When James Martin Pacelli McGuinness was born in 1950, the fatal pathogens of the Northern Uprising were already extant.
History didn’t knock on his door in the Bogside, it kicked it in and wrecked his home.
His community was systemically discriminated against to the extent that nationalist Derry was ruled over by the grim-faced burgomeisters of Londonderry.
It was minority rule thanks to the local government boundaries.
The gerrymandered rotten borough on the Foyle was the antithesis of democracy.
A point that was conceded by Ian Paisley in a revealing interview with Eamonn Mallie.
The folks on the east side of the river believed that the Taigs of the Bogside had to be kept in their place.
As part of the local kulchurr, the Fenians were annually showered with pennies from the walls of Derry.
When change was peacefully demanded the local state reacted with savage brutality and Martin’s generation snapped.
The anger was genuine and justified.
Petrol bombs were eventually replaced by car bombs.
It was brutal and, tragically, necessary.
Peaceful agitation for Civil Rights had clearly failed in 1969.
Martin McGuinness then made a choice that thousands of his generation opted for.
It wasn’t the only option available, but it was the one he made.
Bloody Sunday in 1972 rather underlined that it wasn’t an entirely illogical choice to make.
By that time he was already the second-in-command of the Provo’s Derry Brigade.
It was time for war.
Today his passing has been marked by some who have pointed to the violence of the army that he was a leading member of.
However, I cannot take lessons in morality from members of a political elite who invented the concentration camp, gassed the Kurds and firebombed the defenceless innocents of Dresden.
What these chaps in their oak panelled clubs seem to forget is this:
You make peace with your enemy, not your friend.
Martin McGuinness was their enemy and a rather proficient one at that.
WestPoint and Sandhurst couldn’t teach what he was born with.
I fully understand that there are people in Britain and the Six Counties who cannot see beyond his military career.
As a young man, he decided to join the IRA.
However, later in life, he decided to end the IRA.
He wasn’t a professionally manufactured politician.
No focus group produced Martin McGuinness.
I remember standing right behind him at Glasnevin cemetery in 1994 as he gave the oration to Óglach Martin “Doco” Doherty.
It wasn’t a scripted polished performance, but it was genuine.
If you had told me then that he would have been one-half of the “Chuckle Brothers” or he would cordially shake hands with the British head of state then I would have scoffed at the notion.
However, that’s what leaders do.
They understand the importance of timing.
What made Martin McGuinness a successful military leader on the streets of Derry also made him a key architect of the Peace Process.
Today in his native Derry, the nationalist-dominated city council share the mayoralty with the unionist minority.
It is self-evident that this is a world away from the sectarian municipality that he was born in.
This morning Donegal woke up to learn that they had lost one of their own.
His mother Peggy from Inis Eoghain gave him a deep love of this county.
He once cheerfully admitted to me that he had a happy addiction to angling.
I know that he treasured a favourite spot here on Abhainn Ghaoth Beara near An Dúcharaidh.
He loved the peace of Donegal, and he generated that precious commodity through his vision and leadership.
In the balance sheet of a life, a lot of people owe a great deal to him.
That reality was rather stunningly made recently on television by Ian Paisley junior.
His words say it better than I ever could:
“I am going to say thank you and I think it is important that we actually do reflect on the fact that we would not be where we are in Northern Ireland in terms of having stability, peace and the opportunity to rebuild our country if it hadn’t been for the work he did put in, especially with my father at the beginning of this long journey.
“I am going to acknowledge the fact that perhaps if we got back to some of that foundation work of building a proper relationship and recognising what partnership actually means then we can get out of the mess we are currently in.”
My thoughts today are with Bernie and the McGuinness family.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.
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My brother who is 67 now were in the Parachute regiment. He always said that peace would only come with the killing of Martin Mcguiness and Ian Paisely. Ironic that it were these 2 that that brought it about
Didn’t the Paratroopers kill enough people. Not only the Bloody Sunday massacre in January 1972, but the savagery of the massacre in Ballymurphy in August 1971 during internment. It’s astonishing to be lectured about who should live or die by professional killers occupying another country.
I am sorry you feel that way. I posted wrongly. My brother when he wherecout there wanted all those in the background killed.
He admits that having front line assault troops as traffic warden show more what the powers upstairs wanted than Joe blog in a helmet. After spending a long time in SA and reading about the wars of liberation from the UK. Also that great, late human Nelson Mandela is open your mind. Self determination from a remote authority doe not make you a terrorist.
Martin RIP you have worked hard and now you deserve respect, plaudits for all you have done and suffered to bring peace. RIP
R.I.P. Martin!
John Prestor you need to open your eyes and your mind. The comments you made are surely referring to the imperialism of Brittain several times over through many decades and centuaries..
Your comments reek of your ignorance of the truth. GOBSMAKING IGNORANCE
sorry to bother you Phil…is there something wrong your site seems to be down or something….not coming up properly.
Very sad indeed to hear of the passing of a truly “Great” man. Viewing the t.v. news reporting of his passing reminded me of what my ould grandma used to often tell me as a small child……”Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” Martin, may you rest in the true peace of which you have more than earned. May God be with you.
I realise there will be mixed feelings for many, especially as I have family and friends on both sides of the border. However, there will be no tears on my part. Killing children is beyond the pale as far as I’m concerned. Even taking a young woman who fell for a soldier, shaving her head then tarring and feathering her was despicable. I can’t see how any person claiming to be a practising Roman Catholic could go down that path. Even worse, going to his grave without giving peace to the families of the missing, is appalling. There’s no way that there’s any reconciliation until all of those bodies are returned and laid in hallowed ground with proper contrition and penance.
Infrequent poster to this site. The first since the update. Fine words Phil and even finer words on some of the comments.
This song sums up all my my feelings
It won’t allow me to post the link
.. terrorist or a dreamer Bik McFarlane
Requiescat In Pace Mr McGuinness
Those, who like me, were born in the Republic in the 50s, but raised in Scotland in the 60s, must wonder at what might have been had we remained on the island of Ireland in the 70s. I know I do.
I went back at Easter last year to simply be there to pay respect. By sweet coincidence only, we arrived at Kilmainham as the Lost Leaders March set off. Spontaneous applause drew attention to a large figure in overcoat and wide brimmed hat: Martin McGuiness. That was the highlight of our weekend.
Less than a calendar year later, we too have a Lost Leader.
History will honour you as, in the same breath, it defames your enemies.
And all, just so he and his people could be treated equally. Nothing more, nothing less.
RIP
We are where we are because of his like. Sadly missed
Yet we have nothing but bitterness from Norman Tebbit, saying that Martin was a coward, which I feel is rather rich coming from a member of the Thatcher government who were implicit in aiding her son with a military coup down Africa way, and what happens, the freedom of information request about this event is refused and buried until the middle of the century when all involved will be long gone, now that is cowardice!!!
RIP Martin
Let’s see how fondly remembered Mr Jackboot Tebbit will be when he shuffles off this mortal coil…….
It’s easy for people, especially here in Britain, to simply condemn the part Martin took in early life, and tar him with that.
But they generally all have one thing in common, they are white, they are usually Protestant, and they have never truly suffered ill treatment or had a close ancestral link to those who suffered ill treatment under an imperialist occupier/imperialist legacy.
So they are not qualified to say such things, nor, truly, nor am I, but I do understand more, my brown skin and my wide reaching and certificate thinking mind understands a little better than most.
Quite simply. Martin for me, is a white Mandela. And he rose to defend and bring equality to his people. And many people today all over these two islands and nations, are alive partly due to his efforts to bring peace,,,, lasting peace.
Nothing’s perfect, nobody is, nor is nelson Mandela, I know my history do you know yours??
Nice piece Phil.
Thank you Martin, thank you. Rip
Possibly the most astute and touching statement/observation that anyone will make about him in the coming days. As a descendant of Donegal hill farmers I know exactly what you mean.
Met Martin in Dublin last year during the Easter Rising Comemmorations, I felt so proud to shake his hand and laugh and joke for a few moments, he said he liked my Celtic tracksuit top and that’s what caught his eye when he spoke to me.
A truly warm and gracious individual who put his own neck on the line to achieve an everlasting peace in Ireland, his bravery and his hand of friendship to all the communities in the 6 counties will never be forgotten.
He will be remembered long into history, those who castigate him will be quickly forgotten.
God Bless you Martin, Rest In Peace.
There are very few people I would consider heros in my lifetime:
Bobby Sands
Nelson Mandela
and
Marin McGuinness
Thank you for everything you have done for my country Martin. RIP
Martin McGuinness will be remembered as a giant of a man, called by events into a life less ordinary.
I never knew about the Pacelli part of his name – after the excellent Pope Pius XII, of course. Equally, I didn’t know that he was teetotal and a member of the Catholic Pioneer temperance movement.
There is, sadly and unsurprisingly, a lot of bitterness in the British media today regarding this. All of it is misplaced and demonstrates a great ignorance of the genuinely apartheid-like social conditions which Irish Catholics in the North of Ireland had to endure, until Martin McGuinness’ generation came of age. It is both shameful and also scarcely believable that such a situation could be allowed to exist in the UK, as recently as the 1960s-70s.
Those who lost loved ones in the conflict should remember that, in every case, the ultimate responsibility for deaths lies with the Stormont Regime of that era, the kind of society it ran and all those complicit in the perpetuation of that kind of society. That is where the blame goes it doesn’t go to Martin McGuinness.
The people tried a peaceful approach at first, with the pan-religious civil rights marches. But a peaceful approach will only get you so far, in the face of physical attacks by uniformed police officers, led by elected politicians. Those who overlook all this and instead direct spite at Martin McGuinness are guilty of ignorance at best, intellectual cowardice at worst.
Finally, if I may be so bold, I think its a mistake for Phil to mention “the innocents of Dresden”.
Dresden was a major transport and communication center and housed over 100 factories and 1000s of workers who propped up the Nazi war effort. Additionally, it was the same Nazi regime which itself had started the tactic of bombing cities some years before, during the Battle of Britain.
The British have committed many evil acts, but Dresden wasn’t one of them.
Instead of Dresden, we could talk about Coventry, or even Clydebank – where just 7 (seven) out of 12,000 homes were left undamaged by the Luftwaffe and where the youngest victim was just 2 months old.
But then, spite and living in the past is the preserve of the dying sub-culture down Govan way. The rest of us should seek to follow the example of Martin McGuinness, by moving on and reinventing ourselves.
RIP Martin.
RIP Martin.
The 2 month old child killed in the Clydebank blitz belonged to my mother’s cousin, who was also killed when they both took shelter in the close of a tenement during a bombing raid.
G.Wright – You are correct re your comments re Martin McGuinness but with regard to the “Nazis” – who NEVER called themselves that by the way you are very ill informed by the Allies propaganda.
FACT is it was Britain that started bombing civilian targets and even though Hitler was enraged by this he didn’t retaliate until he and the German people could take no more of our targeting civilians – plenty of documentaries and his Hitlers speeches condemning the British for doing this online on Youtube etc. There is also the excellent documentary called Hellstorm showing this Allied atrocity against the German people and not forgetting the FACT that over 12 MILLION Germans were killed by the Allies – most of them AFTER WW2 with millions of woman raped and murdered and not forgetting the MILLIONS of German prisoners of war starved to death with NO shelter in the Rhine Meadows POW Camps etc.
Just as Tony Blair lied to trick the British people into backing his bombing and invading Iraq it was the same with our corrupt controlled government just prior to WW2 – They have always been lying to go to war – and what they did not and still do not teach people is the FACT that our corrupt governments got the Polish Government to rape and murder the German people living in the German areas given over to Poland after WW1 in order to get Hitler to go to their aid. Don’t forget Stalin invaded Poland at the exact same time as Hitler did and we did not declare war on him because he was controlled by the same Elites that controlled our governments back then and still do now.
The reason that the Elites and their puppets in our governments engineered WW2 against Hitler and Germany was because they arrested the bankers and took over their banks and did what our governments should have been doing back then and should be doing right now – they printed their own, the peoples , money debt and interest FREE and spent it into their economy and that is why Germany was booming back then with full employment while the rest of the world was in the Elites DELIBERATELY created Depression – the EXACT same thing is going on again just now with the Elites and their corrupt controlled puppets in our governments/political parties bringing our economies down as they work towards their NWO agenda.
Also watch the British documentary “Adolf Hitler The Greatest Story Never Told (Full 6 Hours Documentary) that is on Youtube again just now before they ban it yet again because it has gone viral all over the world. You HAVE been lied about everything and you ARE being lied to about everything just now.
Nice words for a true gent met, him once,it was an honour,RIP Martin & many thanks for all your efforts & compromises over the years for the bigger peaceful picture that Northern Ireland now enjoys !
His name will be remembered with the likes of Tone, Emmett,Connolly and Sands. A true Irish Patriot.
God Bless his Soul.
RIP Comrade
So so sorry to hear of the passing of an amazing individual