Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland (2007–11, 2011–17). Born in Londonderry, he joined the Irish Republican Army about 1970 and is thought to have become one of its leaders. He was Sinn Fein’s chief negotiator in the talks that culminated in the Good Friday Agreement (see northern ireland). Elected to the new Northern Ireland Assembly, he became Northern Ireland Minister of Education (1999–2002) and subsequently Deputy First Minister in 2007 when Sinn Fein became the largest Nationalist party. In 2011 he stood down from this role to stand for election as President of the Republic of Ireland, but returned to it after he was defeated. In 2017 a scandal over renewable energy subsidies engulfed the First Minister, Arlene Foster, who refused to accept responsibility. McGuinness then resigned as Deputy First Minister, triggering a general election in March 2017. He did not stand for re-election and withdrew from frontline politics for health reasons, and died shortly afterwards.