The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Clinton in call to ‘finish the work’
martin mcguinness: Ex-US President urges people to honour ‘legacy’ of late Sinn Fein leader, as thousands attend funeral
Former US president Bill Clinton has made an impassioned plea for people to finish the peace building of Martin McGuinness.
Thousands of people thronged the streets of Derry’s Bogside as the veteran Sinn Fein figure’s funeral took place in St Columba’s Church.
Mr McGuinness died on Tuesday from a rare heart condition, aged 66.
Mr Clinton and ex-Democratic Unionist Stormont first ministers Peter Robinson and Arlene Foster were among those attending yesterday’s requiem mass.
Looking down on a coffin draped in an Irish tricolour, the former US president, who was central to the Good Friday Agreement negotiations, implored today’s leaders to pick up where Mr McGuinness left off.
“He persevered and he prevailed. He risked the wrath of his comrades and the rejection of his adversaries,” Mr Clinton said.
“He made honourable compromises and was strong enough to keep them and came to be trusted because his word was good.
“And he never stopped being who he was. A good husband, a good father, a follower of the faith of his father and mother and a passionate believer in a free, secure, self-governing Ireland.
“The only thing that happened was that he shrank the definition of ‘us’ and expanded the definition of ‘them’.”
Mr Clinton added: “Our friend earned this vast crowd today. Even more, he earned the right to ask us to honour his legacy by our living. To finish the work that is there to be done.”
Mr Clinton spoke briefly with the McGuinness family after his passionate eulogy and touched the coffin as he walked by.
Mr McGuinness’s beloved Bogside neighbourhood came to a standstill as his coffin was walked to St Columba’s Church, led by a lone piper.
Irish President Michael D Higgins and his predecessor, Mary McAleese, also attended the funeral, as did Taoiseach Enda Kenny and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern.