I was born after many of the events which shaped the society in which we live today but from an early age I recognised the contribution made by Martin McGuinness in achieving peace on this island.
Martin emerged as a leader within the republican movement in 1972. He was the same age as I am today – 21. For me a young political activist, this is very inspiring.
Martin quickly recognised the inequality and ill-treatment of his community by British occupiers and this determined the path he would take.
He always lead from the front and was steadfast to the struggle for peace, reconciliation and re-unification.
His republican principles remained paramount in every action and decision that he took over 45 years of activism. Despite the narrative by various media outlets that he lived two separate lives, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The people of Ireland and indeed the reunification of this island were embedded in his heart and soul.
Martin took massive strides towards peace, despite facing down successive and hard-faced British governments over many years. He along with others managed to negotiate an agreement which would ultimately change our lives. The Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998, without his influence this wouldn’t have been possible.
Leading Sinn Féin in the assembly Martin popularised the republican struggle and the principles of an agreed and united Ireland. He also made significant steps towards reconciliation with his unionist neighbours.
As a young person and a republican I have great admiration for Martin’s work. He prioritised the future of my generation.
His last act as a minister was to call time on arrogance and allegations of corruption at the heart of government. This decision will stay in the hearts and minds of me and my peers. Here was a man standing up for us, he stood up for the LGB&T community, for the Irish language community and for power sharing based on his principles – the principles of fairness for all citizens.
At Martin’s graveside, Gerry Adams said “organise, mobilise and unite for your rights”. He’s right.
We must demand our rights, just
like Martin did throughout his whole life. He changed this island for the better. It’s up to us, the up and coming generation, to continue this work.
Tens of thousands of people lined the Bogside to bid farewell to Martin McGuinness, among that crowd was thousands of young people, paying their respects to a hero of their generation.
CAOLAN McGINLEY
Derry city
Shouting at voters after election is poor practice
Alastair McGuile (March 13) is understandably disappointed by the loss of nationalist representation at MLA level in the East Antrim constituency.
However, his aggressive and angry denunciation of SDLP voters in the constituency relies on statistics that can only have been derived from ‘fake news’ sources. Oliver McMullan (SF) performed extremely well, increasing both his vote and vote share.
However, he ultimately missed out on election by more than 1,600 votes, not 200 as Mr McGuile suggests. The losing margin was indeed more than the number of votes obtained by the SDLP candidate on the first count.
Fundamentally, Mr McGuile seems unhappy about cross-community transfers in the election. However, such cross-community transfers deprived the DUP of as many as four additional seats in East Antrim, Lagan Valley, Fermanagh-South Tyrone and probably East Derry. A positive outcome surely? If we are to build a new, shared, inclusive and peaceful Ireland we need to embrace cross-community working and partnership not just in our politics but in our day-to-day lives. It might not always work as hoped of course. Cross-community transferring (and failure to transfer) by some SF voters in Strangford actually deprived that constituency of its first ever nationalist MLA (the SDLP candidate lost by 225 votes), denied nationalists a plurality of seats in the assembly (40-39 instead of 39-40) and meant that the DUP ended with one seat more than SF. Such are the vagaries and opportunities of the STV electoral system.
Shouting at the voters (SDLP, SF or otherwise) after an election is poor practice for a democrat. Doing so, Trump-style, on the basis of bogus statistics and ‘alternative facts’ is even worse.
G McDONNELL
Belfast BT9
Circle wagons time again for unionists
So the predictable has happened and Arlene Foster and countless other unionists/loyalists are calling for unionist unity with one party (so it’s circle the wagons time again folks) with Arlene in charge where she can make grandiose speeches.
If we learned one thing from the past 10 years – where Martin McGuinness did more than bend over backwards to keep the assembly up and running – it is not to give unionists these big titles, like first minister, as it goes completely to their heads where they think they are running the British empire around the time of the 1800s. I am surprised that Sinn Féin let the charade at Stormont go on for as long as it did.
It could have been a whole lot worse for the DUP after Sinn Féin hit the woodwork in East Derry and Upper Bann. So they could conceivably have been level pegging or the unthinkable, one seat more than the DUP.
Unionists need a massive reality check because even being respectful seems like hard work. If unionists are in genuine shock from this election it will be nothing compared to an election in 2021 or 2022 when the crocodile will be fully grown.
PAUL McCANN
Belfast BT15
DUP’s elitist governance
There are those in the DUP who find it hard to embrace equality because for some of them there can’t be equality. Their moral and spiritual mindset has been inherited from the Reformation which allows them to believe that their view of worldly affairs is the only correct one. This view can be seen in their use of ‘petitions of concern’ to oppose marriage equality legislation despite the will of the people here. Their involvement with scandals such as Red Sky, Nama and RHI highlights these puritanical roots and hence their refusal to acknowledge any wrong doing. This equates with the use of ‘mental reservation’ by the Catholic Church to cover up sexual scandals. This type of elitist governance and their refusal to represent the democratic will of the people on Brexit is forcing many people here to explore alternative political structures that will respect their rights as equal citizens while remaining within a EU. Change can only happen here when politics can overcome age old prejudices.
MICEAL O'MATHUNA
Loch an Oilean, An Duin
Hackneyed sentiments
Turlough Quinn asserts (March 17) that the Free State wants ‘nowt’ to do with us. This is a sweeping, stereotypical and hackneyed, second-hand sentiment and is in itself divisive, unnationalist and partitionist. I, during five years work in Dublin and visiting most of the 26 counties, never experienced the alienation claimed by Turlough. If he means that there is apathy and ‘cold shouldering’ among the political establishment in Leinster House, he should clearly and precisely state that, since it does exist among politicians there.
AIDAN CONVERY
Co Derry
