21/03/2017 BBC Newsline

This is BBC Newsline with Donna Traynor.

There was a candlelit vigil in Belfast tonight to pay tribute

to the former Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness,

Thousands of people gathered off the Falls Road in Belfast

and heard the Sinn Fein veteran described as a man who was

a patriot, a peacemaker and a reconciler.

Some of his political opponents have also credited him

for his contribution to the peace process.

But others, including some victims, say they can never forgive him

Our political editor Mark Devenport looks back at how Mr McGuinness went

When Martin McGuinness resigned as Deputy First Minister,

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.

but I am very determined to overcome it.

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.

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,

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

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 he 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

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.

Martin McGuinness, as you heard, said his heart lies in the Bogside.

His funeral will be held there on Thursday.

Keiron Tourish has been talking to some people

The final journey home for Martin McGuinness -

republicans thronged the streets of the Bogside to say farewell

For some time now, Martin McGuinness had been receiving treatment

at Altnagelvin Hospital for a serious illness,

with close family maintaining a vigil.

They are at to day morning that person, not the great Republican

though they know he was that, they lost their father.

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.

In the Bogside today, people gave their impressions

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,

It's a sad day for Derry - a sad day for Ireland.

The Church of Ireland Bishop offered his condolences, and said many who

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 have no forgiveness for what happened to my husband.

I can't understand how people can sit down and plan such

I am not taking away from the fact that Martin McGuinness

But I can't forget what his previous life consisted of.

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

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.

The Sinn Fein President, Gerry Adams, has been reflecting

Martin McGuinness was doing the best in very difficult circumstances. He

was the pioneer of a peace process that, despite its imperfections, was

the saving of hundreds of lives. We have to look at all of this, and

Martin was not a single dimensional person.

The former American President Bill Clinton said,

as Sinn Fein's chief negotiator on the Good Friday Agreement,

Mr McGuinness' integrity and willingness to engage

in principled compromise were invaluable.

The main political parties at Stormont have also

While we had many reasons not to work together,

and indeed there were a lot of things that separated us,

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

The devolved government here was the way to move things

That's certainly how I will remember him,

Martin is someone who people in this city and around the world is someone

who people came to know as someone who was committed absolutely to the

peace process, and there is debate about this that it was tactical, but

I think it was principle not tactic that Martin McGuinness believes the

best way forward for this country was through peaceful means, and the

situations he helped create and maintain.

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

and I think it is a shame that information has been lost.

He was a calming influence, he had an enormous amount

of patience in negotiations, and particularly at this

point in time that is something that is missing.

Many people believe Martin McGuinness was genuine

for many others, his past hangs heavy.

13-year-old Leanne Murray was killed by a bomb, so how will her brother

Gary remember Martin McGuinness? It caused a lot of hurt and pain.

Towards the end, people say that he changed. I find that hard to

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

Among those who survived the IRA bomb in Friday was this man, whose

wife was severely injured. On BBC radio, he said he had no sympathy

for Martin McGuinness. 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 He came across as a

very reasonable man. This may seem crazy

given his early life. 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 bodies of some of the victims

of the IRA have never been found. They are the so-called disappeared.

Including this person, whose brother gave a reaction to the death of

Martin McGuinness. I lost a member of my family... They

will be able to bury Martin McGuinness but we will still not be

able to go and visit our family's grave.

In life as in death, Martin McGuinness has divided opinion.

Our political correspondent Enda McClafferty is on Derry's walls.

Yes, that's right. They have turned out in their numbers today at the

Bogside behind me to pay their respects to Martin McGuinness. They

have been queueing outside his home all evening, filing through the

front door offering condolences to his wife. His four children, his

brothers and his sister as well I think there is a slow realisation

that many people have made the pilgrimage, and he is a figure who

has dominated the landscape both as an IRA commander and as a

politician, and he will know more walk the streets behind us.

What are your thoughts on the mixed reactions we've heard today?

It has been very noticeable to date, that those people who have lost

loved ones at the hands of the IRA have been finding their voice, and

they have been feeling pain today. They have been revisiting what

happened to them and their loved ones, as they contemplate the

passing of the former Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, and a

difficult day for them and interesting to know as well to note

the language used by senior partitions from the Prime Minister

down, careful to say that not only were they acknowledging the

contribution of Martin McGuinness to the peace process, but accepting and

reflecting on as well his IRA past. What more is know about

the funeral arrangements? The funeral will take place in a

church beside us on Thursday afternoon around 2pm. We note the

Irish president will be in attendance, but also that Enda Kenny

will be making his way to Derry that day. We don't know about local

politicians but make it an indication when the Assembly is

called tomorrow and the MLAs get a chance to reflect further on the

passing of Martin McGuinness. Now let's take a look

at the weather. Good evening. Another cold night

tonight with clear skies and light winds. We could see over an

interpreter is down to -4 or minus five Celsius. County Down will have

cloud cover tonight, with showers working their way in from the Irish

Sea. Tamara gets off to a chilly start, then a mix of sunshine and

showers through the day -- tomorrow. Likely rain across the eastern half

of Northern Ireland as the weather system moves in. Best brightness

further west. Some showers wintry for a time. Another cold day, with

height of seven or eight Celsius. The good news is that as we head to

this week for a ridge of high pressure becoming more firmly

established, as we head towards the weekend. The temperatures are

getting warmer and these guys are getting more blue. -- the skies.

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