British PM David Cameron says working with Martin McGuinness is ‘painful’

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British Prime Minister David Cameron

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Speaking to in the British house of parliament, on Wednesday, the new British Prime Minister, David Cameron, said he often found it “painful” to work with Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister  Martin McGuinness.

Mr Cameron was speaking in defense of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry and spoke about the compromises which have been made on both sides in order for the Good Friday Agreement and ultimately peace in Northern Ireland to have been achieved.

He made clear that the rehabilitation of the former IRA leader, Martin McGuinness was a “price worth paying”. However he also spoke about the personal loss he had suffered at the hands of republican violence.

He said “The Good Friday Agreement was very painful because it did mean that people who had done appalling things were let out of prison.

“But in the end the government, and I supported them, thought that it was right to make that proposal to try to end the conflict.

“As a result the IRA did agree to end the war, as they put it, to put their weapons beyond use, pursue peaceful means.”

Mr Cameron went on to talk about his personal sense of loss and pain. He said “I find it personally quite painful when I think of Ian Gow or Airey Neave - Airey was the first MP who ever represented me in Parliament.

“I do find it painful that I now sometimes sit around a table with Martin McGuinness and I think about what that man did.

“But everyone has to come to terms with that because that is the price we are paying for peace, and it is a price that is worth paying, because peace is so much better than the alternative.”
 

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