The health of Martin McGuinness, the former deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, is seriously deteriorating, reports have suggested.
As talks aimed at restoring Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government got under way in Belfast, sources in McGuinness’s native Derry confirmed a story in Monday’s Irish News which said he had been in hospital for the last two weeks.
McGuinness, who was Sinn Féin’s chief negotiator during the peace process, announced his retirement from politics at a press conference in January where he appeared frail. It is understood he has a rare condition that attacks the heart and other vital organs.
The 66-year-old made no appearances during Sinn Féin’s successful assembly election last week and did not attend his local polling station with his wife, Bernie, to vote.
Sinn Féin has said McGuinness’s health is a private matter and it will not discuss it further.
The sources in Derry said the former IRA chief of staff, who established a warm friendship with the Democratic Unionist (DUP) founder, Ian Paisley, after power sharing was restored in 2007, was taken to the city’s Altnagelvin hospital when the side effects of his treatment became severe. Previously he was being cared for at home.
McGuinness, who has been a pivotal figure in Irish republicanism over the last 40 years, was replaced as Sinn Féin leader’s in Northern Ireland by Michelle O’Neill.
Meanwhile, the secretary of state for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire, said there was a “limited window” to reach a power-sharing deal.
The Stormont assembly was due to meet on Monday for the first time since Thursday’s election, which saw a resurgent Sinn Féin come within just one seat of matching the DUP’s 28.
The newly elected members will attempt to nominate an assembly speaker – a challenging appointment as any candidate has to be seen to be fair to unionist, nationalist and non-aligned members. The members will then begin the negotiations to rebuild devolved cross-community government.
Theresa May and her Irish counterpart, Enda Kenny, were monitoring developments, and were expected to discuss Northern Ireland when they met at the the European Council summit in Brussels on Thursday.
Brokenshire said of the talks: “There is a limited window in which the assembly and executive can be restored.”
He will hold bilateral meetings with each of the five main parties in the assembly on Monday. His counterpart, the Irish foreign minister, Charlie Flanagan, will join the talks on Wednesday.
One of the major sticking points will be the DUP’s insistence on nominating Arlene Foster for the post of first minister.
The last power-sharing executive collapsed because Foster refused Sinn Féin calls to temporarily step aside as first minister while a public inquiry was held into a botched green energy scheme that has cost the taxpayer £500m.
McGuinness resigned from his position as deputy in protest at her refusal. Under the rules of power sharing, the government fell because it no longer represented both sections of the community in Northern Ireland.
The republican party has said it will not back Foster for nomination to the post again, while the DUP has said Sinn Féin cannot dictate who its leader or nominee can be.
Another contentious issue will be Sinn Féin’s demand for an Irish Language Act, which would put Gaelic on the same par as English. The DUP has resisted any such act, arguing that it never agreed to one in the negotiations that established power sharing 10 years ago.
