Politicians reflect on Martin McGuinness as Assembly holds special sitting

PA Reporter

Prime Minister Theresa May offered her condolences in the House of Commons for the death of Martin McGuinness, as a special sitting of the Northern Ireland Assembly got under way to remember the life of the former Sinn Fein deputy first minister.

Mrs May told MPs she could not "condone or justify" the part played by Mr McGuinness in the Troubles, but hailed his "indispensable" role in moving the Republican movement away from violence to democratic methods.

With Stormont still without a powersharing executive or new Speaker in the wake of the recent snap election, traditional protocols have been overridden to mark Mr McGuinness's death on Tuesday at the age of 66.

Events at Parliament Buildings will play out as preparations for Mr McGuinness's funeral intensify in his native Londonderry.

The IRA commander-turned-political leader died in the early hours of Tuesday after a short illness. A Requiem Mass will be held in Derry on Thursday afternoon.

Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons, Mrs May said: "I would like to express my condolences to the family and colleagues of the former deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, Martin McGuinness.

"Of course, we do not condone or justify the path he took in the earlier part of his life, and we should never forget that, nor the victims of terrorism.

"However, as my noble friend Lord Trimble set out yesterday, he played an indispensable role in bringing the Republican movement away from violence to peaceful and democratic means and to building a better Northern Ireland."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told the Commons: "Martin played an immeasurable role in bringing about peace in Northern Ireland, and it's that peace we all want to endure."

On Tuesday night thousands of people gathered to pay tribute at a candlelit vigil in the republican heartland of west Belfast.

Crowds held black flags aloft and sang the republican ballad I Wish I Was Back Home In Derry.

The sombre event off the Falls Road happened hours after crowds in Derry accompanied the Sinn Fein veteran's coffin on his final journey home to his beloved Bogside neighbourhood.

Mr McGuinness, who died from a rare heart condition, completed an extraordinary political journey from an IRA leader in Derry to sharing power and a remarkable friendship with his erstwhile foe, Democratic Unionist leader Dr Ian Paisley.

He also struck up a warm relationship with the Queen, whom he praised for her contribution to peace. She is to send a personal message to Mr McGuinness's family.

The Sinn Fein stalwart is survived by his wife Bernie and four children.

Mr McGuinness's last major act as a politician was to pull down the powersharing executive at Stormont when he resigned as deputy first minister in January in protest at the DUP's handling of a green energy scandal.

The move forced Mrs Foster from office and 10 days later, showing signs of physical frailty, Mr McGuinness announced his retirement from frontline politics due to ill health.

Mr McGuinness's successor as Sinn Fein's Stormont leader, Michelle O'Neill, paid emotional tribute at the start of the Assembly session in Belfast.

She hailed him as a "political visionary" and "gifted strategist and orator".

"For the Sinn Fein MLAs in this chamber and for the Irish republican family across this island and beyond he was our leader, he was our inspiration, our role model and he was, above all else, our dear and valued friend," she said.

"So it is with a broken heart but with a heart that is bursting with pride that I have the honour and privilege to pay tribute to him today."

She added: "His leadership and the example he set will continue to inspire those of us who are determined to build a better future for all the generations to come."

Mrs O'Neill said Mr McGuinness always challenged party colleagues to reach out to those from a unionist tradition.

She noted in his last public statement he urged people to choose "hope over fear".

"The legacy that Martin wished was for a better future based on equality and measured by the joy and laughter of all of our children," she said.

"So on behalf of Sinn Fein I rededicate our party to completing his life's work and to living through his legacy."

Mrs Foster said Mr McGuinness's legacy was "complex and challenging".

The former first minister said it was doubtful Northern Ireland would "ever see his like again".

She said his death was "hugely difficult" for victims as it had brought up painful memories from the Troubles.

"I would never seek to minimise the very real pain they are going through," she said.

"Indeed I understand that pain and I empathise with all those innocent victims throughout Northern Ireland.

"But I do recognise also that there are many republicans and nationalists who look to Martin as a leader, friend or mentor who will be feeling a very real sense of loss that he has died in this way at the relatively young age of 66."

The DUP leader said history would have the "final say" on Mr McGuinness.

She said while she would also condemn his IRA past she did acknowledge his contribution to devolved government.

"It is precisely because of his past, because of his involvement with the IRA in the 70s and 80s because of his influence within those circles that he was able to play the role he played in bringing the republican movement towards using peaceful and democratic means and because of all of that I doubt we will ever see his like again," she said.

Mrs Foster said those who claimed Northern Ireland had not changed were wrong.

"Things have fundamentally changed since I was growing up in the 70s and 80s and changed immeasurably for the better and Martin McGuinness did play a role which I will always condemn in the 70s and 80s but I also have to acknowledge the role that he played over this last decade and more in government in Northern Ireland," she said.

Mrs Foster concluded her remarks by quoting Mr McGuinness's favourite poet, Seamus Heaney, saying: "So hope for a great sea change, on the far side of revenge.

"Believe that further shore is reachable from here."