TONY Blair's former chief of staff has urged Stormont's politicians to "honour Martin McGuinness's memory" by restoring devolution as soon as possible.
As a senior member of the Labour administration, Jonathan Powell took a lead role in the negotiations that led to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
Speaking to The Irish News yesterday, he said: "I will miss Martin McGuinness and more importantly so will Northern Ireland."
Mr Powell recalled how on their first meeting, relations were far from warm.
"When I first met him in 1997 I refused to shake his hand, seeing a terrorist in front of me," he said.
"By the time I left government 10 years later I regarded him as a friend."
He invited McGuinness to his wedding.
He described Mr McGuinness as a "tough negotiator" but said he also had a "great human warmth and a natural concern for other people".
"That, I think, was what won over Ian Paisley and certainly won over his wife and family as he expressed his concern for the ailing Paisley in his last years," Mr Powell said.
"Martin made a remarkable contribution, risking his life to make peace in Northern Ireland and perhaps even more importantly making the peace work by governing alongside his former enemy Paisley."
He said a new generation of politicians now needed to make power sharing work.
