We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us...

Martin McGuinness with Handgun, 1972.

When a man approached Martin McGuinness on Monday to seek acknowledgement for the execution of his father, Patrick Kelly in 1983, the response he received was "It's in the past". When it comes to murder though, can we ever really forgive and forget? Maybe it’s in us to forgive if there's some kind of atonement, if we feel that there has been acknowledgement of wrongdoing, if there are signs of remorse from the accused. What if there is no 'accused', just a shroud of conjecture surrounding a violent death? How can we be expected to move on from an incident when, there's no closure for the victim's families and as far as the authorities are concerned the book is far from closed?

When I voiced my concerns about the suitability of Martin McGuinness for the role of Uachtarán na hÉireann, I received some responses from supporters who defended him on the grounds that he, like Senator Norris, is a civil rights activist who was standing up for an oppressed minority during his involvement with the IRA. When I look over the civil rights marches in the north, particularly the Bloody Sunday Massacre, I see the kind of brutality that led to some citizens taking up arms to defend their communities. But there's a lot more to the story of Martin McGuinness than a few skirmishes with British troops during the 70s and 80s.

I'm from Dublin but I've spent some time living in Belfast, in a loyalist part of the city as it happens. In 2005 I rented a beautiful house along with some college buddies, all southerners, in East Belfast. It was a few minutes’ walk from the Newtonards Road and from about March every year, we would watch the Orange Order parade up and down the road in preparation for the 12th of July. The area would be strewn with Union Jack bunting, some areas painted the kerbstones with a fresh coat of red white and blue and there was a festival atmosphere in the area. It was as if a slightly uncomfortable carnival had come to town. In the loyalist areas, people were looking forward to the festivities but with thick southern accents, we always felt a little tense and we didn't really know how to fit in. However weird we felt about this situation we never felt unsafe. I remember walking home from the city centre one night when an old man asked me what I was doing out at that hour alone, and did I want him to call a cab for me. Whatever unionists thought of us privately, they were always respectful and polite. The reason I bring this up is that I believe that most well-meaning folks in the north have, for the most part, 'moved on'. The majority of people I know and have spoken with in the south have never experienced sectarianism and are largely indifferent to the tensions in the six counties. Moving on however, does not mean excusing murder.

Killing is often excused by western society, in the case of war a certain amount of 'collateral damage' is to be expected, we're told. Civilian deaths are the unfortunate bi-product of clashes between governments, or between civilians and their governments. Many supporters of McGuinness will argue that if he was involved in killings then they were casualties of the long war between the IRA and the British Government. How then, can we explain the clandestine murder of fellow Irishmen, the execution of informants and the torture and intimidation of Irish civilians?

Peter Murtagh's Irish Times article earlier this year explored McGuinness's role in the events surrounding the death of Frank Hegarty, a suspected IRA informant whose body was found on an isolated Border road near Castlederg in west Tyrone, about 37km south of Derry. The article suggested that Martin McGuinness befriended Hegarty's family and convinced them to lure him home on the promise that he would be safe. Not long after his return his eyes were taped shut and he was killed by multiple gunshots to his head. The Hegarty family spoke with Murtagh, looking for answers about Frank's death, but soon after the interview began, the journalist was interrupted by the abrupt arrival of Martin McGuinness and his heavies who ushered him away without being allowed to conclude his interview.

I have no evidence to suggest Martin McGuinness was involved with any IRA killings, but his reluctance to condemn, or even acknowledge these acts means that we cannot move beyond them. For the Hegartys its still 1983 for the Kellys it is still '86 and they'll be stuck there until they get closure, until someone is made to answer for the loss of their loved ones. The role of Uachtarán is not a particularly powerful one, but it is significant. It should be someone who represents the best in us, not the darkest chapters of our history.