Ex-I.R.A. Leader to Seek Irish Presidency

DUBLIN — Declaring himself a “peacemaker who can be trusted,” a former commander in the Irish Republican Army began a campaign on Monday to become Ireland’s next head of state.

The former commander, Martin McGuinness, who is currently the deputy first minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly, was jailed in the 1970s in the Republic of Ireland for possession of bomb-making equipment and ammunition. He was the I.R.A. commander in the city of Londonderry and was reputedly the leader of the overall organization in Northern Ireland for many years.

Mr. McGuinness, 61, is contemptuous of what he calls a “media fixation” on his I.R.A. years. Despite abundant knowledge of his past, he said at a news conference here on Sunday, voters “have come out in their droves to vote for me, knowing that I am absolutely dedicated and committed to a new way forward and I live in the here and now.”...