McGuinness's 'Fond' Memories Of Paisley

Martin McGuinness has said he looks back on his time in office with Ian Paisley fondly, and regularly speaks to the former First Minister and ex-DUP leader on the phone.

Mr McGuinness, (pictured) Sinn Féin's top executive minister, said he and his former Unionist foe "have a good on-going personal relationship". The men shared over a year in office together, presenting a united front on devolution day and at a series of subsequent joint events.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Mr McGuinness said he and Mr Paisley have exchanged mobile telephone numbers and speak "now and again".

"I always look back on our period together with great fondness, we had the ability to work together," he said.

"I would speak to him now and again on the telephone - and this is coming from someone who despised Ian Paisley for most of my adult life."

According to the Deputy First Minister, Mr Paisley set an example for everybody in Northern Ireland "about where we need to go".

Mr McGuinness acknowledged that his relationship with incumbent First Minister Peter Robinson is slight different, but nonetheless cordial.

"Peter and I have a good personal relationship and we clearly showed prior to the last meeting of the Executive that we had the ability to crunch down on issues that were a source of division between us."

Reacting to a recently published photograph of himself brandishing a gun in the early 1970s, Mr McGuinness said he was "not a bit concerned".

He said: "The past is the past. I'm involved in carving out a better future for everyone including Willie Frazer (the man who retrieved the photo).

"I am not a bit concerned about it."

(PR/KMcA)