‘They were all sons of Ireland’ – McGuinness

Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness has ended his high profile visit to World War One battlefields in France. Today, he laid a wreath at the site of the Battle of the Somme where soldiers of the 36th (Ulster) and 16th (Irish) divisions fought together.

Yesterday, he laid a wreath to Irish soldiers who fought in the battle at the Island of Ireland Peace Park in Messines alongside the Prime Minister of Flanders Geert Bourgeois (pictured).

Mr McGuinness said his visit was an attempt to recognise soldiers from Ireland who died in the battle and its importance to unionists and an ‘important contribution to the process of reconciliation in Ireland’. . He said the visit to both sites should be part of looking at a ‘shared culture of commemoration and remembrance’ in Ireland.

"Tens of thousands of Irish men died in the First World War and they were all sons of Ireland," he commented.

"So this is an opportunity for our party leadership to pay respects at the sites where they died.

“And in this decade of centenaries during which we commemorate the centenary of the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme, initiatives such as this should be embraced as an opportunity to develop a shared culture of commemoration and remembrance respecting all of our traditions in Ireland on the basis of parity of esteem and equality."