Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness said last night he would rather die than disclose to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry the names of people who were members of the Provisional IRA at the time of the Bloody Sunday killings in January 1972.
At the conclusion of his two-day long evidence to the Inquiry, Mr McGuinness was directed by the Inquiry's chairman, Lord Saville, to give the names, either in public or in private, to the inquiry. However Mr McGuinness said that in his view "there was no such thing as private" but added that he was prepared to call on anyone who had information which could assist the Inquiry to come forward without hesitation.
"Out of a code of honour, I cannot betray people who were members of the Irish Republican Army during 1972, but I will again advocate publicly for all those in a position to assist this Inquiry to come forward and do so as a matter of courtesy," he told Lord Saville.
The inquiry's chairman then said he thought that Mr McGuinness would reply in that manner.
"In the circumstances, since we have directed you to answer the question, since there appear to be no good legal reasons why you should refuse to answer the questions, we will have to consider what steps we take in relation to your refusal to answer. Do you understand?" he asked Mr McGuinness. The Sinn Féin MP replied "I do indeed, yes".
Mr McGuinness was then applauded by his supporters in the public gallery.
Outside the Guildhall he was again applauded when he underlined his refusal to name his former IRA colleagues.
"Am I going to be the only person imprisoned as a result of the murders of 14 people and the wounding of 13 others on Bloody Sunday? I am prepared to go to jail. I would rather die than disrupt or destroy my code of honour to the IRA," he told reporters.
Last night an inquiry spokesman said they were not currently considering citing Mr McGuinness. He said asking Mr McGuinness for the names of Provisional IRA members could be redundant if they got the information from other sources.