Sinn Fein chief Martin McGuinness

DEPUTY First Minister Martin McGuinness has stepped up his has said police have warned him of a dissident republican threat to kill him in a “rocket attack”.

Former IRA chief of staff Martin McGuinness said officers told him that the threat came from a group calling itself the Continuity IRA.

“I have been made aware the PSNI has discovered a plan to launch a rocket attack against me,” the Sinn Féin MLA said.

He said he would not be “silenced or deterred” by threats to his life.

“The PSNI has said that a group calling itself ‘CIRA’ considered an attack against me using a rocket launcher,” Mr McGuinness said in a statement.

“If those behind this threat think they have ability to destroy the peace agreements which have been endorsed by the overwhelming majority of the people of Ireland then they are clearly detached from reality,” he added.

The Mid Ulster MLA has been the subject of a number of death threats from dissidents over recent years.

The most serious threat was after he branded the dissident killers of Constable Stephen Carroll as “traitors”