IRA victims say Northern Ireland's peace came at a price

  • Video report by ITV News Correspondent Geraint Vincent

The victims of IRA attacks have said that peace came at a high price after Martin McGuinness died aged 66.

The former IRA chief-of-staff insisted he was proud of his para-military past, although he never revealed whether he'd shot or killed anyone.

Lord Tebbit, who survived the IRA Brighton bomb, today called Mr McGuinness "a coward" and "a multi-murderer".

Other victims, though, believed he'd worked hard for peace.

Stephen Gault was among the injured and his father killed in theRemembrance Sunday bombing in Enniskillen.

He said: "I have a fear that Martin McGuinness will be held as a great peacemaker who brought peace to Northern Ireland. Personally it sickens me to the pit of my stomach.

"Martin McGuinness in my eyes will always be the terrorist he was."

Lord Norman Tebbit, whose wife was injured in the IRA's 1984 bombing of Brighton's Grand Hotel, said the world "is now a sweeter and cleaner place" after Mr McGuinness's death.

Lord Norman Tebbit Credit: ITV News

He said: "He embraced the peace process because he was a coward, as almost all terrorists are. He knew that the IRA was finished, it was defeated...being a coward he decided he would seek peace.

"He found a mug in the shape of Mr Blair and as a result, the IRA, including Mr McGuinness were given get out of jail free cards and were never prosecuted for their crimes whereas British soldiers and policemen are still being prosecuted for what they did in the way of duty to protect the civilian population of Northern Ireland."

When the IRA bombed Warrington in 1993 they killed a 12-year-old boy called Tim Parry.

His father Colin met McGuinness several times.

Tim Parry, 12, was killed in an IRA bombing in Warrington.

Mr Parry said: "He struck me as a decent guy. Now people will hear that and think 'he must be crazy' but history is littered with people who used to be fighters or terrorists and became mainstream politicians and sometimes presidents."