Tributes have poured in from across the political divide for Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness who died this morning aged 66.
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McGuinness became Northern Ireland’s deputy first minister in 2007 working alongside former adversary Paisley, who was first minister.
McGuinness” friend and Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has paid tribute to him, tweeting a message in Irish, which said “among heroes of Gael he had a faithful soul.
In a measured statement Tuesday, May says that while she could “never condone the path” he took in early life, he nonetheless played an essential part in “the extraordinary journey of Northern Ireland from conflict to peace”.
About 3,500 people were killed during the Troubles, a conflict between Catholic Irish nationalists, who wanted to join the Republic of Ireland, and Protestants who wished to remain part of the United Kingdom.
Military veteran and author Dougie Brimson took to Twitter, writing: “Maybe the hospital could hide the body of Martin McGuinness and refuse to tell his family where it is”.
“Over the years – through the arduous negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement – and for the years after it, I got to know Martin well. But, setting aside forgiveness, the simple fact is I found Martin McGuinness an easy and pleasant man to talk to – a man who I believe was honest in his desire for peace, for maintaining the peace process at all costs”.
1/2 Very sorry to hear about the passing of Martin McGuinness.Look back with pleasure on the remarkable year he and my father…
Senator Pádraig MacLochlainn said that Martin McGuinness was Ireland’s Nelson Mandela, a man who led by example and was committed to peace.
But remarkably, against all the odds, a deep friendship developed between these clashing figures that enabled the Northern Ireland peace process.
The SDLP leader Colum Eastwood, who at one stage was mayor of the city where McGuinness lived throughout his life, said it was “appropriate that we reflect on Martin’s remarkable journey, made possible by men and women from all traditions across this island who forged a peace process from the fire of a bad conflict”. In one of his meetings with the head of the British monarchy, McGuinness said: “I am an unapologetic Irish republican and I value very much the contribution Queen Elizabeth has made to the peace process and to reconciliation”.
Mr McGuinness ran for the presidency in 2011 and his last political act was to trigger an election in Northern Ireland when he stepped down as Deputy First Minister after a decade in the role.
A woman in her 60s called Carol said if she had grown up in the Bogside in Derry as a man she would have done what Martin McGuinness did in the IRA.
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He said they believed a radical republican, people centred, democratic movement was needed. He said: “Our position is clear and it will never, never, never change”.
