James Martin Pacelli McGuinness (23 May 1950 – 21 March 2017) was a Northern Irish politician who was the Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland until his resignation on 9 January 2017. He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland. He was a member of Sinn Fein, which is a political party that wants Northern Ireland to join with the Republic of Ireland and leave the United Kingdom. He was the Member of Parliament and Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for the constituency of Mid Ulster.