21/03/2017 BBC Newsline

This is BBC Newsline on the day when the death was announced

He passed away in hospital just after midnight,

his body was brought to the Bogside this afternoon.

We trace his journey from guns to Government.

I am prepared to go to jail. I would rather die than disrupt or destroy

my code of honour to the IRA. These people, they are traitors to the

island of Ireland. From IRA commander

to meeting the Queen. I am in Martin McGuinness's home

city throughout the programme. We'll hear very different

views on his legacy. I am very proud to call Martin

McGuinness my friend and today republicans right across the island

of Ireland will mourn his passing. He went into Government as an

unrepentant terrorist and I can never forget that.

Martin McGuinness was the IRA man who met the Queen,

the politician who ran to be President of Ireland,

the ardent republican who led his supporters

A few months after being diagnosed with a heart condition the former

Deputy First Minister and leader of Sinn Fein at Stormont died

This afternoon, his coffin was taken to the Bogside where he grew up

Hundreds of people walked from William Street passed

Hundreds of people walked from William Street past

In this specially extended BBC Newsline we look back

at the Martin McGuinness's public role and assess his legacy.

Here in Londonderry, we'll hear about the impact made

They include former political foes with whom he forged a friendship

as well as the relatives of victims who cannot forgive his

First, our political editor Mark Devenport looks back

at what by any description has been a remarkable career beginning

This report begins with a clearly ill Martin McGuinness announced he

was stepping down as Deputy First Minister.

When Martin McGuinness resigned as Deputy First Minister his

Ten days later, supporters gathered outside Martin McGuinness's

home as the news spread he was quitting politics altogether.

My heart lies in the Bogside and with the people of Derry.

It has taken its toll on me but I am very

His final battle with illness followed a lifetime of political

Born into a large family in the deprived Bogside

area of Londonderry, Martin McGuinness left

He was working as a butcher's assistant when the Troubles

The young McGuinness quickly moved from taking part

in civil rights protests, to joining the IRA.

I was 19 years of age approximately at that time. Thoughts do turn to

how you can be more effective in terms of confronting the British

Army and the RUC and I suppose, you know, there are limits to what you

can do with a stone. There are limits to what you can do with

bricks and with bottles. And at the same time, lead bullets were being

used against the people. So, I and many others made a very conscious

decision to seek to join the IRA. To be more effective in our resistance.

In 1972, soldiers from the Parachute Regiment killed 14

Martin McGuinness was second-in-command of the IRA

The next year he was convicted of IRA activity by an Irish court.

Security chiefs are in no doubt he was a key figure in the IRA as it

reorganised and rearmed in the 1980s.

Amongst its most high-profile attacks was the attempt to kill

Margaret Thatcher at the Grand Hotel in Brighton in 1984.

This nation will meet that challenge.

Mrs Thatcher was furious when the BBC broadcast a real lives

documentary in 1985 featuring Martin McGuinness,

Reports that I am Chief of Staff of the IRA are untrue but I regard

Martin McGuinness denied having prior knowledge

of the Enniskillen Remembrance Day bombing, the murder of informer

Frank Hegarty or the proxy bombings aimed at Army border checkpoints

but he consistently defended the right of the IRA

At the end of the day, it will be the cutting edge of the IRA

When the IRA called its ceasefire in 1994, Martin McGuinness had

already been involved in lengthy secret contacts with British agents.

He went on to become Sinn Fein's chief negotiator

Then served as the Education Minister who abolished the 11-Plus

just before a lengthy breakdown in devolution.

It's been absolutely gut-wrenching for me as an Irish republican to

come to this building, Stormont, and be a Minister in a northern

Executive. Are we to throw away at one fell swoop all of the hard

gotten gains of the last number of years? I just think it's madness. I

think it's madness of the worst kind.

In 2007, power-sharing was restored and the public witnessed

the almost unbelievable sight of Martin McGuinness forging not

just a political partnership but an apparently genuine friendship

He also seemed to enjoy a warm rapport with the Queen,

shaking hands with her on more than one occasion.

Martin McGuinness's relationship with Peter Robinson seemed cooler

and more business-like than his partnership

Then when Arlene Foster arrived at Stormont Castle he complained

that the new DUP leader wasn't prepared to match his

We suggested to the DUP that Arlene and I should travel to France and go

together to a Northern Ireland game and to a Republic game

I wasn't asking her to go to a 1916 commemoration,

Arlene went to the Northern Ireland match and I went to both.

Historians may ponder the contrast between Martin McGuinness

the peacemaker and Martin McGuinness the IRA commander.

However, his ability to steer the republican movement away

from violence stemmed from his previous clandestine

He didn't live to see the united Ireland he fought for,

but there's no doubt Martin McGuinness irrevocably

changed the dynamics of politics here.

My journey's been a long journey, over 25 years working on building

the peace. I suppose epitomised by the fact that since I have taken

ill, I have had many, many, many thousands of letters and messages of

support right throughout the community. But the ones that mean a

lot to me in all of that, of the many, many messages that have come

from Protestant Churchmen right across the churches and from

ordinary Protestant people and the fact that I am in their prayers says

something about the impact I hope I have made in terms of my willingness

to reach out. Martin McGuinness, as you heard,

said his heart lies in the Bogside. It's there, just over my shoulder,

that he was born in May 1950. He told the Bloody Sunday Inquiry

that, at the age of 21, he had been the second-in-command

of the IRA in the city at the time and later that year he was flown

to London to take part in secret Despite his prominent political

role, particularly over the last two decades,

he has also been a regular the last two decades, he has also

been a regular at the Brandywell. Keiron Tourish reflects

on what people here have been saying about the Martin McGuinness

they knew personally. The final journey home for Martin

McGuinness, republicans thronged the streets to say farewell to one of

their own. For sometime Martin McGuinness had been receiving

treatment at Altnagelvin Hospital for a serious illness, with close

family maintaining a vigil. He passed away early this morning. You

go into the room, obviously it's a family.

Bernie's lost a husband, the children have lost their father,

you know, the brothers and sisters, Geraldine was there,

nephews and nieces and you can sort of see that Martin was very much

So they're today mourning that person, not the statesman,

not the great republican, although they know he was that,

they lost their father, their husband, their uncle,

their brother and obviously the devastation was palpable.

People in the Bogside today gave their views on the death

It's totally devastating for the community as a whole. It's sad, he

done a lot for this town, for the peace process. And for that I am

sure people will miss him, lovely man, lovely family. Very sad to hear

it, that he died. Very sad indeed. He was a good fella. It's a sad day

for Derry, sad day for Ireland. The Derry Journal has been documenting

city life since 1972 and plans a special edition tomorrow. This is

another major story. It ranks up there with obviously the passing of

Bishop Daly was very important, the Savile inquiry, the apology from the

British parliament. It's really, really up there. It's an amazing

story for us. It's a very, very high-profile man who was once

considered a political pariah to international statesman,

peace-maker. The Church of Ireland Bishop offered his condolences. But

said many who had lost loved ones to the IRA would be reflecting on that

today. They'll find it hard to come

to terms with all of this and why is he receiving the adulation

that he is, when his past has been so difficult and his association

with the IRA which he referred to as the cutting edge,

that led to so much pain, Kathleen lost her 42-year-old

husband Patsy in the bomb in 1990. It also claimed the lives of five

soldiers. He was used as a so-called human bomb. Martin McGuinness

defended the IRA attack. I would like to pass my condolences on to

his wife and his family because I feel that they will need everybody's

support now, no matter about Martin or what his past or his present was.

I feel a wee bit robbed of the fact that she got to say goodbye to

Martin, I didn't get to say goodbye to Patsy. What do you think of

Martin McGuinness and the IRA ultimately? Well, as I said, I make

no secret of the fact that I have no forgiveness for what happened to my

husband. I will never forgive them. Can't understand how people can sit

down and plan such a horrendous death for someone. I am not taking

away from the fact that Martin McGuinness turned his life around.

But I can't forget what his previous life consisted of. And he's been put

on a pedastel now, OK in some ways he's done a lot of good but I don't

think he deserved that. It's 26 years now since my husband's death.

We have five grandchildren now which he didn't know. His grandchildren

call him Patsy because they didn't know him as grandad, they weren't

born. My abiding memories are of, well, my daughter's wedding day when

her daddy should have been there. Um... Her brother was there to walk

her up the aisle, her daddy should have been there, all the different

occasions when Patsy should have been there and he was taken from us.

There's no doubting the fact that Martin McGuinness was a hugely

divisive and controversial figure during his lifetime. But ultimately

history will be the judge of the scale and size of his contribution

over recent decades. With me is the Sinn Fein President

Gerry Adams. A very difficult day for republicans, and one for you

personally, you have lost someone very close to you. Yes, and Bernie

has lost her partner, her lover, her husband and a father of her children

and the two boys and the eight grandchildren have lost a father and

a grandfather. So, you know, it's a big, big loss for the family

especially but also for Martin's republican family, for his Sinn Fein

family. When it comes to the reflections about his legacy today,

can you understand those voices, people like Kathleen Gillespie who

feel they can't forgive? Yes, that's a matter for them. That's the right

to whatever opinion they have and they would see it as being

justified, but I have a different opinion. Martin McGuinness did his

best in very, very difficult circumstances. He is a pioneer of a

peace process that has been despite its imperfections the saving of, who

knows, hundreds of lives, and we have to look at all of this. Martin

wasn't a single dimensional person, he was many, many things like all of

us, he was a human being, you know, he loved his family, loved his

community. He was actually looking forward to stepping down from public

office, you know, remember he was there with Ian Paisley and Peter

Robinson and Arlene Foster, he was there as Education Minister, was

there for years when no one would talk to Sinn Fein or respect our

mandate when we were censored and he persisted with the help of John Hume

and others, Fr Des Wilson and Alec Reid and we got to where we are,

let's make sure it never, ever slips back again. He was able to build up

those extraordinary relationships with people, not least that meeting

or meetings with the Queen. Do you think any other republican could

have done that? Probably so. But not with Martin's panache. Because, and

I used to always say that he got that from his mother. His mother was

from a rural countrywoman who came to Derry, she had that sense of

hospitalality of tolerance, and reaching out, you never went out of

the house hungry and Martin had that affable good-natured way of dealing

with everybody he met. He could also be very assertive when he was having

a dispute or advocating against someone, but his meetings with Queen

Elizabeth, he knew that disxhoeted many nationalists, he was unrepent

anteabout it, but also some unionists, so when you are a pioneer

in this business, you need partners and that's what we need at this

time, we need a partner in the process of making peace and building

politics. It's difficult journey. He loved the

city but was behind bombings in the city. The same in terms of Ireland

itself, how do you that circle? He was born in this city in 1950. The

orange date didn't want him. When you treat people like that there's

bound to be a response. When there was a peaceful demand for basic

civil rights which would have helped everyone, the British state

repressed that and then the politicians made a fundamental

mistake. They handed it over to the generals who militarised the

situation and given the history of Ireland and the tendency with

republicanism, you got the response. I personally met Martin in the city

when it was free Derry and we have come be an all of that. People are

reflected on the past today. Could Republicans have done more in terms

of repentance and apologies and regret that would have healed

society in a way that we see today has not happened? I have said many

times, including talking about Republican patriot dead, they were

brave people. Including the people in the RUC and UDR. We have

apologised to all the civilian casualties. There is always more you

can do but I would look for an example of anyone who has done the

type of pioneering out reach that Martin McGuinness has done. There is

no one else who has done as much in terms of trying to reach out to the

other as Martin has done. Gerry Adams, thank you very much for

joining us. We will have more throughout the programme but for now

back to you, Donna. The journey made by Martin

McGuinness from conflict to peace involved a close working

relationship and unlikely That has been described

as remarkable by one When I was growing up, he was the

godfather of the provisional IRA and struck terror quite literally into

the hearts and lives of many people. And that moved from being the

godfather to being the man in government. That's remarkable

journey is incredibly important. As a Christian, as a person who

reflects on life, it's not how you start your life that's important,

it's how you finish on life. A lot of people will be thankful that

Martin McGuinness finished his life a lot better than it could have

been. The journey was remarkable. Martin McGuinness served

as Deputy First Minister alongside three DUP leaders Ian Paisley,

Peter Robinson and Arlene Foster. He has travelled to other countries

to talk about his role in the peace process and forging relationships

across the political spectrum. He was only ever jailed

in the Republic after being arrested near a car containing

explosives and ammunition. In 2011, he ran for

the presidency of Ireland. Today, President Michael D Higgins

led tributes from around the world. He said people across this island

will miss the leadership he gave and his commitment to the values

of genuine democracy. This report from our political

correspondent Gareth Gordon. Even in death, the talking continued

today, the aim restoring the political institutions Martin

McGuinness had brought down saying that they needed to be reformed.

What of the woman he called upon to stand aside as First Minister.

Arlene Foster paid a warm tribute. While we had many reasons not to

work together, and indeed there were a lot of things that separated as,

our life stories, our backgrounds, we did have the core belief that

Stormont was the right thing to do. The devolved government here was the

way to move things forward in Northern Ireland. That's certainly

how I will remember him, that he wanted to make a difference. Far

away in Derry, the Sinn Fein president remembered the man he

relied upon more than any other. Martin was as we all know a very

passionate Irish republican, he believed in our people, that this

island should be free, he believed in reconciliation, he worked very

hard at that. Man of War two man of peace. The political world tried to

capture a remarkable journey in a sound bite. I have to say that my

dealings with him demonstrated a man of huge integrity as a political

figure here at Stormont. The third thought is the information he took

with him to the grave. He knew things about troubles incidents that

people wanted to know and I think it is a shame that information has been

lost. He was a calming influence, he had an enormous amount of patients

in negotiations and particularly at this point in time that is something

that is missing. Clearly, there were two parts of his life. We obviously

look now at both of them but the contribution that he made through

the peace process, through taking the republican movement to the place

of purely political ends, peaceful ends, I think, is really the thing

that people will remember. But this critic is not prepared to forget.

Nobody made him be a terrorist. He chose to be a terrorist. He chose to

decide that people would die. We have to be careful about lauding

such a person if he gives up that pursuit. He should never have been

in that pursuit in the first place. Tony Blair remembered their first

meeting. I remember Martin coming with Gerry Adams, they sat down

heavily at the Cabinet table and Martin looked around and said with

heavy irony, this was where the damage was done. Meaning, the

partition agreement, the days of David Lloyd George. It shows... My

chief of staff replied, I thought you meant when you guys lobbed

mortars in John Major's time. Martin McGuinness played a part, a

significant part in the IRA's part in bringing violence to a conclusion

and bringing the peace protest. Peter Robinson said that he did not

believe that any other Republican could have performed the same role.

The former president Bill Clinton said...

As it was after the death of Ian Paisley, the assembly is being

recalled tomorrow to allow the MLAs to give their formal response to the

death of Martin McGuinness. A BBC documentary in 2008 said

Martin McGuinness was the head of the IRA's Northern Command

and had advance knowledge It has also been claimed

in the Dail that he was one Those that suffered at the hands

of the IRA have been Some say they will never forgive

the part he played Others believe he was genuine both

in his efforts to bring peace and in reaching out the hand

of friendship to unionists. Martin McGuinness was seen by many

as the public face of the IRA. For many families affected by IRA

violence, he was regarded as a man with questions to answer.

13-year-old Leanne Murray was killed by the Shankill bomb. How will her

brother remember Martin McGuinness? Caused a lot of hurt, a lot of pain.

And towards the end people said that he changed. I find it very hard to

believe. I do feel for his family but it happens, doesn't it? The

Enniskillen bomb killed 11 people including husband and wife Willie

and Agnes Mullen. Today their daughter said that Martin McGuinness

should have said sorry for what happened. He went into government as

an unrepentant terrorist and I will never forget that. I will never

forget the deaths that were caused by Northern Ireland -- in Northern

Ireland by the IRA. In 1972, nine people were killed and more than 30

injured by this bombing. Many questions were left answered. He has

left me a lasting legacy, suffering from the shrapnel in my body. He has

left me with that. Although he admitted being in the IRA in Derry

in the 1970s, at the bloody Sunday enquiry he refused to say who else

was in the IRA. I would rather die than disrupt or disown my code of

honour to the IRA. Absolutely. Among those who survived the bombing

Brighton was Lord Tebbit. His wife was severely injured. He said he had

no sympathy for Martin McGuinness. He was a coward. Most terrorists are

cowards. Peace would have been achieved anyway because the RA were

defeated. The father of one of the young boys killed in Warrington says

he can never forgive the IRA but in recent years Colin Parry got to know

Martin McGuinness. What did you make of him? He came across as a very

reasonable man. This may seem crazy given his early life. He was an easy

man to talk to. The only misgivings I have had was that it went beyond

the stage of handshakes and he gave me a man hug. I felt awkward then

although I didn't tell him. The victims bodies of some of the

victims of the IRA have never been found. This man lost his brother and

gave this message today. At the end of the week, they will be able to

bury him. We will still not be able to visit our grey. -- grave. In life

as in death, Martin McGuinness has divided opinion.

Our political editor Mark Devenport is with me now.

His opponents seem to be in general warm in their tone and tributes

today. How surprisingly is that? We have heard in that piece that it is

inevitable given that some of those who have suffered at the hands of

the IRA found it hard to forgive. Including Lord Tebbit who said he

thought Martin McGuinness would burn in hell today. But what is the sign

is that those sentiments are not entirely echoed across the unionist

political spectrum. Others have said that he didn't need to going to the

IRA and should atone for that. But people like Peter Robinson and David

Trimble have said that they believed his influence will be greatly missed

in the effort to put things back together at Stormont. That is

testament to the transition Martin McGuinness made and also to the

personal charisma that really reached out to people and was able

to build relationships that you might have thought were impossible.

What impact has his absence from Stormont had in the latest political

crisis? The fact that he was battling illness removed him at a

vital time and if he had been more able to intervene at an earlier

stage, we may have avoided some of the recent crises. His absence I

think has certainly made is worse. Will the sense of coming together

now, as politicians from across the spectrum pay a degree of tribute,

although in the context of his two lives, will that focus the

attention? That is the question now. The assembly has been recalled

tomorrow. We went to to have a session until Monday next week. That

is the deadline for electing a speaker and first and Deputy First

Minister. We will have a meeting where MLAs will give their

perspectives. Undoubtedly there will be tough words but quite a lot of

warm words not only from Republicans but from the other parties including

the Unionists. Peter Taylor, who first met

Martin McGuinness in the Bogside He is in our studio. What sort of a

man did you meet? I didn't know Martin McGuinness, I had never met

him before, it was John Hume who pointed him out and said he is

somebody you should talk to. I met him in the Gas Works in 1972 at the

time of Bloody Sunday which was my introduction to the conflict was the

IRA's headquarters and I was surprised and very impressed, he

wasn't the sort of stereotypical image of the quotes, terrorist. He

was bright, he was articulate. He was amusing and he was utterly

committed to his political goal, which was the reuniification of

Ireland and committed to the way in I he believed at the time that could

be achieved, which was by violence and the so-called armed struggle. Of

course he changed dramatically over the years. He went on to become a

very senior, if not the most senior IRA person, leader, on the island of

Ireland. Shortly after Bloody Sunday he was one of the IRA delegation

along with Gerry Adams who talked to the British Secretary of State, the

whole thing was a fiasco because the IRA's demands were totally

unrecognisable. I think Martin McGuinness politically learned from

that meeting, which is why his transformation which I believe was

utterly genuine, was based on the realisation that if there was to be

a united Ireland the only way it could happen was not via the

so-called armed struggle but by republicans embracing their

traditional unionist enemies and persuading them to take part in a

project that would lead Sinn Fein, the IRA believed, will ultimately

lead to a united Ireland. There was a long-term strategy behind Martin

McGuinness's conversion. You talk about him being controlled in his

message, he did seem to be media savvy. We are sort of in a bubble in

Northern Ireland, because we see these politicians on our screens all

the time, how do you think he is viewed now and his legacy will be

viewed across the water in London and beyond? I think the way that

people on this side of the Irish channel view Martin McGuinness is

very different from the way people in Northern Ireland or the island of

Ireland view Martin McGuinness, where opinion is divided

dramatically over him as an individual as an IRA leader and him

as a so-called man of peace. Over here I suspect that many people

would still see Martin McGuinness as the quotes terrorist. Because there

is a danger that we on this part of the United Kingdom almost take the

peace process for granted. I don't think people here fully recognise

the absolutely critical role that Martin McGuinness had in bringing us

to where we are today. Peter Taylor, thank you.

You're watching a specially extended BBC Newsline

on the day that the death of Martin McGuinness was announced.

Later we get reaction from Dublin and from some of the churches.

Now let's go back to Londonderry and to Tara for more political reaction.

Thank you. Joining me on Derry's Walls now are the Sinn Fein MLA

Raymond McCartney and the SDLP lead Colum easted with. We have heard

about the complex character Martin McGuinness was, who was he in your

view? He was a lifelong friend. Someone who overmany, many years be

it political or personal, someone you could always go and get good

advice from. He certainly was a leader. He certainly ensured that

whatever challenges the peace process brought he brought good

explanations, good understanding and showed everyone of us the way to go

forward. We have heard from some victims today who feel they can't

forgive and who feel there are questions that they will never now

get answers to. Well, I think everyone's entitled to their opinion

and certainly we are entitled to ours. Martin, when he was asked to

come forward, did say that he would want every person to have access to

truth and justice. Unfortunately, now Martin has passed away, but

certainly the legacy which he leaves will ensure that republicans and all

of us through dialogue will ensure people get truth and justice. Who

was the Martin McGuinness you knew? We have talked all day about

Martin's journey and that's been well rehearsed but Martin is someone

who people in this city came to know and people around the world came to

know as somebody in the last few decades of his life who committed

absolutely to the peace process and there's been a lot of debate about

this and some people said it was a tactic, I don't think it was. I

think it was a principle that Martin McGuinness truly believed that the

best way forward for this country was through peaceful means and

through the institutions that he helped create and helped maintain

and I suppose we are all now trying to save those institutions but

somebody I think who deserves immense credit for what he came to

and more importantly almost in the way that he brought others with him.

That's very, very important. Especially today and there will be

plenty of time for debating his full legacy in the next number of years

but I think we have to be very thankful for the work that he did to

bring people with him and to maintain the institutions that we

now have, or hopefully have. Yet you were politically opponents even

though you wanted the same outcome. We had many an argument in public or

private but we always had in the short number of years that I knew

him in my current capacity we always had a very warm relationship and he

always showed me great respect and was always very good at asking about

your personal life and everything else. Somebody I suppose that you

could argue with in the room and then have a pleasant conversation

with after. I think that's a skill that not everybody has. But it's one

that Martin absolutely had and I think that allowed him to reach

beyond his own constituency and his own base and bring people with him

and help people understand him I suppose in his own position. I think

that stood him in good stead over the last number of years and allowed

all of us to have a relationship whilst maybe disagreeing on many

things. And when it comes to the victims we have heard from today,

people like Kathleen Gillespie here in Derry, she feels she will never

forgive. It's understandable that victims today will have a very

difficult day. I think we all have to recognise that. But we also have

to embrace what's happened in the last number of decades. Many people

in this society have difficult histories and histories that I

wouldn't agree with or support. But we have to take people as we see

them. We have to hope that people are committed truly to peaceful

means and I did find that Martin was. And I think he showed that by

his actions, but all of us now have to get together to make sure that

all of the victims have the truth and justice that they require and I

think that's the intense period that we need to move into in the next few

days to make sure all people have access to the truth and all of us

have responsibilities around that. Will there will be an additional

push from Sinn Fein to get the institutions running again? There

will be and Sinn Fein over the last number of weeks have been intensely

involved in the dialogue and I think it would be a good lasting legacy to

the memory of Martin McGuinness to have the institutions back in place

which he worked very, very hard, both to create and maintain over a

long number of years and a big part of his strength of character was

many times ensuring initiative was shown, that compromise was reached

through dialogue to ensure the institutions would work for the

people who elect us to do our job. Thank you very much for joining us.

Vp Martin McGuinness was seldom out

but he made sure his family were kept away from the cameras.

Our political correspondent Enda McClafferty has been looking

back at Martin McGuinness's life away from politics.

Martin McGuinness was first and foremost a family man who cherished

his time away from politics. With his wife and four children he spents

most of his life on the same street in the Bogside. A short distance

away, the two bedroomed house where he was brought up with his five

brothers and sister. There were seven children in our family. There

were nine of us living in the house. Two bedroomed house. Not easy. Very

cramped, very difficult. His father died in 1973. Leaving his late

mother Peggy to run the house. This is my job, making the tea. Your job

is to sit down and for me... I was afraid you wouldn't know where to

go. That will be the day! In 1974 Martin McGuinness married his wife

Bernie, just days after being released from prison in the

Republic. I was at the wedding, him and Bernie's wedding. He was a big,

big family man. He came from a big family. Very important family

tradition going back a few centuries. And then of course he was

keen and very determined, he was going to create his own family and

he did and they're very, very pleasant family to meet. Throughout

his time in politics the former Deputy First Minister went to great

lengths to keep his family out of the spotlight. Well, I set out not

to indoctrinate my children in any way. I wanted them to be normal

children. None of them are involved in Sinn Fein. I presume they would

vote for their da! Martin McGuinness was planning to retire in May and

his family say he was looking forward to spending more time with

his grandchildren. As it turned out, his last public appearance was where

his political journey started. On a street in the Bogside.

For many years Mr McGuinness held the Westminster seat

for the Mid Ulster constituency and represented it at the Assembly.

Maggie Taggart has been getting reaction to his death

Mid Ulster was Martin McGuinness's political stomping ground from 1997

until 2013 as a Westminster member of parliament. And also as MLA for

the area from 1998 until 2016. In the election earlier this month Mid

Ulster showed its republican credentials by electing three Sinn

Fein members to Stormont. The former First Minister was well known and

appreciated in Maghera, a mainly Catholic town. Very, very sad.

Martin was here the day that we opened the hotel here, so he was.

And, he's done a lot of work for the whole country, so he has, will be

sadly missed. We will never see the like of him again. He is unique as

far as I am concerned. And a master politician, a good diplomat. I think

he did a lot for the peace process. I wasn't a supporter of Sinn Fein, I

am not a supporter of Sinn Fein, but I think he had a warmth about him

that carried the peace process forward. We didn't shed any tears.

You are not a symphathiser? No. Didn't get a vote anyway. It's a

pity the family and that's about all. He is no more important or no

less important than any of the rest of us. We are all equal. The day of

judgment will decide. Although Mid Ulster is in the main republican and

nationalist constituency, there are some pockets of unionist support.

Here local people were reluckant to make any comment in Tobermore. But

most had little sympathy for Martin McGuinness. He got what he deserved,

I suppose. That's all I would say. Well, really at the end of the day

he might have done a lot for peace but we have to look at what he done

40 years ago. He had in the IRA and had started the thing there wouldn't

have been call for peace. Martin McGuinness had opted to leave Mid

Ulster to stand in his home city for the Foyle constituency but his

achievements and his past history will be remembered here for good or

ill. Let's get a Church perspective. Are

people entitled to not forgive the sins of the past, we have heard a

lot from victims today? There's been a very wide reaction or range of

reactions today. A huge spectrum and maybe that's not surprising. I think

Martin McGuinness has a vote or even provoked quite diverse reactions.

There are some who have said so who find it difficult to forgive. There

are others who are trying to come to terms with the past and I think what

we need to do is encourage all of them because some devastating losses

have been experienced, some great pain has been borne by lots of

people and today it has brought it to the surface. I think that's one

of the things that's happening is the strength of reactions have come

from the heart, to the mind and people are expressing how they have

felt and maybe - they may not have expressed it for sometime. And what

would you say to people who are struggling today? I suppose the

death of Martin McGuinness has evoked all sorts of reactions. I

acknowledge there are as many people in my community, the Catholic

nationalist community who have issues with Martin McGuinness

because of his past, and I think we have to acknowledge that. As many

people as in the Protestant and unionist community and I think that

people are entitled to their views and acknowledge the fact that they

have experienced tremendous hurt and the death of Martin today maybe has

brought that hurt to the foreagain. And maybe emotions are very raw. It

will be very challenging time for them. Particularly when they hear

people praising him when they've had a different experience. What's your

personal view of his legacy? Well, my personal view of his legacy was

that Martin was in my opinion a man who didn't seek glory for himself,

but that when Martin made the decision to follow the route of

peace that he became very enthusiastic about it and I recently

was talking to Martin and I expressed the fact that in a peace

process that we now call it, it's been going on for a long time, that

there are many road blocks and there are humps in the road and sometimes

I said to him, Martin, you never feel like chucking it and throwing

your hat at it and I said, you know, he said, no, this is the only way,

the future for the north of Ireland has to be better than the past. He

said we have to keep working at it each and every day and that was

within the last month he said that. You knew him obviously very well,

close friends over the past ten years, do you think if more people

had known him the way you do they might have a different view or do

you feel it's too complex for that? It certainly is complex. There are

no easy answers. However, I think when you have an opportunity to get

to know someone and to listen to their story then you begin to see a

different kind of person and I have discovered on my ten-year journey

with Martin that if you focus solely on what the person was in the past

you miss seeing who the person has become.

Could Republicans have done more in terms of the victims? I think the

answer to that is there is always more could be done. Let's look at

the transformation that took place within Martin's life. It's as if one

day a finger tapped a shoulder and an about turn, almost like Saint

Paul, took place. He started travelling in a different direction

and I think that direction is helpful to people wherever they are

on their own journey. People at my church say to me, dreadful what you

are doing, but other people say if people were doing 40 years ago what

you have done then some people in my family would still be still alive.

Thank you very much indeed. Interesting to hear your thoughts

this evening. We will be back later in the programme. For now, back to

you, Donna. This afternoon all sides of the Dail

stood for a moment's reflection on the death of the former

Deputy First Minister. The Taoiseach, Enda Kenny,

told the House that the passing of Martin McGuinness

was a significant loss and not For more reaction

I'm joined now by our Dublin Shane, what else did

Enda Kenny have to say? The Taoiseach said that he took the

path from terrorism to peace. A remarkable political journey. That

sentiment was reflected across the the Dail when they stood for a

minute's reflection on his life. Mr Kenny said it was a mark of the man

that he worked so closely with Ian Paisley and he did to strive for a

better Northern Ireland for everyone. Speaking outside the

chamber Mr Kenny said that as a politician Martin McGuinness was

courtiers, generous and committed to peace. In Martin McGuinness the

public figure, we have lost a peacemaker who moved from days of

terrorism to truce, through peace to government and played an

extraordinary part in the development of the peace process. In

many ways, many of the young people in Northern Ireland can look to the

contribution he made at the ending of the troubles when they have

become history. Politicians in the Dail reflected on where the journey

ended. Others outside, victims of violence, said the site of where

that journey began should not be lost. Martin McGuinness was

confronted on the street by David Kelly whose father and Irish soldier

was murdered. Today, Austin Stack, whose father was fatally shot in

1980, said that while Martin McGuinness had reconciled with

unionist politicians, he hadn't done so with victims. We asked the DUP to

come on the programme this evening but no one was available. With

BLEEPED With me is the former head

of the executive communications office at Stormont and former

political editor here at the BBC, Stephen Grimason and the BBC's

former Ireland correspondent How different was Martin McGuinness

in front of the camera and behind? There wasn't an awful lot of

difference. He could be very funny. He had an impish sense of humour and

was involved in a lot of silly behaviour but all the while he had a

very determined attitude to where he wanted to get to politically. The

public when they see the deputy and First Minister especially in times

of tragedy like to see them together. How difficult was it to

get the first to Deputy First Ministers, Ian Paisley, Arlene

Foster, Peter Robinson together? No difficulty at all with Ian Paisley.

The chuckle Brothers thing that started as an insult that became

something they like to hear because in a sense, they were putting it

back to their critics. That Chuckle Brothers time had an impact on the

parties. The DUP became nervous about how close the relations were.

Also, Sinn Fein weren't happy that Martin was seen as the deputy. Once

Ian Paisley departed from the First Minister post it became altogether

tougher and immediately, it was a five-month interregnum with no

executive meetings when Peter Robinson came in. In the end, a

relationship was forged and they did stand together, following the murder

of two soldiers at Nazarene in 2005. That was the time that Martin

McGuinness said that the dissidents were traitors and that was a very

significant moment. I don't think anybody expected that to be said by

him. On a lighter moment, is there anything that stands out for you as

Martin McGuinness the leader? Wherever he went in the world,

wherever he was asked to give advice on peace, he wrote one word on the

blackboard, that word was "Leadership". On the lighter front,

when Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness first came to office,

they wanted to take Stormont Castle back from the then Secretary of

State so a letter was composed to Peter Hain to say, please get out of

the castle. At the end of that exchange, Martin said to Ian, the

first thing you've done is to write a Brit out letter! He immediately

said, what about the occupier? On other occasions, all sorts of fun

happened, once in front of a bemused Chinese delegation they talked about

the benefit of walls. They compared the Chinese wall to Wall is in

prison. Not always easy to get our sense of humour. The lights have

gone down here. Let's reflect on the day with our political

correspondent. It's hard to believe that just four months ago Martin

McGuinness was a picture of health. It's incredible when you think back

to November and Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness setting out their

stall where to go with power-sharing. Now, power-sharing

has unravelled and people are mourning the passing of Martin

McGuinness. It has been an incredible four months. Today has

been a day to come to terms with the fact that Martin McGuinness is no

longer among them. He has been a political figure for the city for a

long time. It is hard to believe that he will no longer walk the

streets of the Bogside behind us. There has been a change from this

morning to this evening. This morning, people were respectful and

echoed their sentiments to their family but later on the voices of

the people who lost loved ones at the hands of the IRA have grown

louder. Martin McGuinness divided people in life and will do so in

death. But people may reflect on what he tried to do at the start of

his journey became very different. Perhaps we should judge him on what

he did at the end rather than what went before. He moved far beyond his

comfort zone here in the Bogside. He moved Republicans into a whole new

sphere that they were never in, like when they met the Queen that night.

It will be interesting to see whether his party can continue on

that work that Martin McGuinness was involved in, in terms of

reconciliation. Of it was wrapped around his own personality. Lots of

work still to be done. From Derry, back to you, Donna.

We had planned to bring you the story of a self-confessed

child abuser who was never brought to justice.

Because of today's events we'll return to that at a later date.

The weather forecast is next with Geoff Maskell.

Snow showers arrived last night, this was the scene at dawn. Once the

sun got active, it turned into a rather lovely day. It is certainly

going to be a cold night tonight. We've got clear skies. We've also

got very light winds. That allows cold winds to come. It would not be

unreasonable to see temperatures as low as minus four degrees in role

spots. -- Roux -- rural. We are on the edge of a

weather system that is giving a miserable day to north-west England

and east coast of Ireland. Always the best chance of seeing some

brightness tomorrow is further west. Temperatures six or 7 degrees.

Because we have cloud cover sitting over us, as we going to the evening,

it means that temperatures tomorrow night will not be nearly as cold as

they are tonight. Temperatures staying above freezing just about

everywhere. As we go through this week, our weather is improving,

high-pressure moving in and looking good as we head towards this

weekend. Today, as we have announced the

death of Martin McGuinness, we look back upon his life.

Hello there. How are you keeping? Fine, thank you very much. Very glad

to be back here. OK, gentlemen, we will have

questions first.