Martin McGuinness biography divides Irish opinion – as he did in life

Observer and Guardian correspondent Henry McDonald’s take on the late nationalist leader traces his rise from rebel to education minister

The controversial life of the late Martin McGuinness could stand as an emblem of the extraordinary changes in the recent history of the island of Ireland. The path the politician from Derry took, from giving a funeral oration in praise of a republican who had once shot at Arlene Foster’s father, who was a Royal Ulster Constabulary reservist, to sharing power with the DUP leader in the Stormont parliament, is now described in photographs and words in a book by the Observer and Guardian’s long-time Irish affairs correspondent Henry McDonald.

“In this case, for once the cliche term of ‘a journey’ really is apposite, because McGuinness travelled such a long way,” McDonald said this weekend. “To go from IRA commander to deputy first minister, well, you cannot get a clearer message across about how things have altered than that. The book really shows the passage of time. It starts with the black and white grainy shots and goes through to the colour of the contemporary world and to shots of McGuinness with kids while he served as education minister.”

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