MARTIN McGUINNESS gave a warning last night of a crisis of confidence in the republican movement which could destroy the Northern Ireland peace process.

The Sinn Fein chief negotiator vowed that he would not allow the fall-out from the murder of a Roman Catholic father to lead to a return to violence.He told the Sinn Fein conference, the Ard Fheis, that the party’s loss of support among core constituents because of the murder of Robert McCartney has been a painful lesson.

Mr McGuinness said: “Painful as it is, we have to face the reality that there is a crisis of confidence that could destroy the Good Friday Agreement. I am not prepared to let our struggle be demonised, or to be caught in a downward spiral that leads inexorably to a return to violence. Instead, republicans are determined to find a way, however difficult and challenging, to put all conflict and violence behind us for good.

“We want to see all weapons put beyond use, to prevent criminality, to participate in policing on the right terms, and to pursue a purely political, peaceful and democratic path to the Irish unification that every one of us wants to see.”

The Ard Fheis occurs this weekend in Dublin against a background of crisis for Sinn Fein. The party had planned to use its annual event to celebrate 100 years of existence and toast electoral success. But instead it is mired in a dramatic chain of events which began with the Northern Bank robbery in December and included last month’s IRA-linked cash laundering racket in the Republic. Mr McGuinness admitted that recent weeks had been very difficult for the republican movement.

He said that he was hurt the most by criticism from the British and Irish Government’s political opponents and the media. He said: “We cannot allow republicanism to be diminished in this way. To do so would be a betrayal of our struggle, of our own personal commitment, of the hunger strikers and of those brave republicans who selflessly gave their lives and liberty for a noble and worthy cause.”

On the peace process itself, he promised a willingness on the part of Sinn Fein to take any difficult decisions that are required to revive hopes of a lasting solution.

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