Claudy bombing: Martin McGuinness admits meeting accused priest

Martin McGuinness confirmed today that he had met the priest suspected of involvement in the 1972 Claudy bomb massacre prior to the Catholic cleric's death. But McGuinness, Northern Ireland's deputy first minister, denied he knew Fr James Chesney before the bombing of the Co Derry village. McGuinness said he spoke with Chesney about the priest's support for a united Ireland but the no-warning car bomb attack which killed nine people was never mentioned. McGuinness said: "I never knew Father Chesney before Claudy. I never knew Father Chesney for many years after the bombing. "I was asked, whenever I was told that Father Chesney was dying, I was told he was a republican sympathiser, would I go and see him and meet with him in Co Donegal. "I did that. There was no mention whatsoever of the Claudy bomb. During the course of that, he just talked about his support for a united Ireland." Chesney, who was allegedly one of the terrorists who took part in the atrocity which happended six months after the Bloody Sunday massacre in Derry. At the time of the Claudy attack McGuinness was second in command of the IRA in Derry. The Provisional IRA unit that carried out the Claudy bomb were from the Bellaghy area of south Derry. The priest denied to the Catholic hierarchy that he was involved but a damning report by the police ombudsman, Al Hutchinson, last month said senior police officers, the Catholic church and the government were involved in a cover-up of the South Derry priest's role. Chesney was transferred to another parish across the Irish border in Co Donegal shortly after the Claudy bomb.