SINN FÉIN Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness is likely to speak at a fringe meeting of the Conservative Party conference, which will be held in October in Manchester.

The invitation to the former IRA leader is bound to cause a huge controversy  because five members of the Tory Party were killed by an IRA bomb at their conference in 1994.

British leader Margaret Thatcher narrowly escaped injury in the Brighton bomb that killed Tory MP Sir Anthony Berry and seriously injured Tory Minister Norman Tebbit.

McGuinness and DUP First minister Peter Robinson have been asked to address an organization called Champ which has encouraged dialogue between different sides since its formation in 2002.

McGuinness has built up a good relationship with current British Prime Minister David Cameron who apologized for the Bloody Sunday massacre and supported Derry’s successful attempt to be named British City of Culture for 2013.