Martin McGuinness
James Martin Pacelli McGuinness (Irish: Séamus Máirtín Pacelli Mag Aonghusa; born 23 May 1950) is an Irish republican Sinn Féin politician who has been the deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland since 2007. He was also Sinn Féin's unsuccessful candidate for President of Ireland in the 2011 election. A former Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) leader, McGuinness was the MP for Mid Ulster from 1997 until his resignation on 2 January 2013. Like all Sinn Féin MPs, McGuinness practised abstentionism in relation to the Westminster Parliament. Following the St Andrews Agreement and the Assembly election in 2007, he became deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland on 8 May 2007, with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Ian Paisley becoming First Minister. On 5 June 2008 he was re-appointed as deputy First Minister to serve alongside Peter Robinson, who succeeded Paisley as First Minister. McGuinness previously served as Minister of Education in the Northern Ireland Executive between 1999 and 2002.