MAKE PEACE FOR MARTIN
»»Ex-president in Requiem Mass appeal »»Thousands say goodbye to SF leader
BILL Clinton yesterday urged the North to find a path to peace as he said farewell to Martin Mcguinness.
The former US President told mourners: “He earned the right to ask us to honour his legacy by our living – to finish the work that is there to be done.” Thousands filled the streets of Derry as the ex-deputy First Minister, left, was laid to rest.
TOGETHER they had carried many coffins of republican dead.
Heads unbowed, hearts blazing with fury, pride and passion unmoved by detractors, unflinching under the gaze of non-subscribers to their cause. But yesterday Gerry Adams cast a lonely figure as he shouldered the coffin of his friend Martin Mcguinness. Not even the heaving crowds that surrounded him could alter that. He was supported as he gave his graveside oration praising the paramilitary turned peacemaker. Mr Adams said: “Martin Mcguinness was not a terrorist, Martin Mcguinness was a freedom fighter. “There was not a bad Martin Mcguinness or a good Martin Mcguinness. There was simply a man, like every other decent man or woman, doing his best. “Martin believed in freedom and equality. “He resisted by armed actions those who withheld these rights and then he helped shape conditions in which it was possible to advocate for these entitlements by unarmed strategies. “Throughout it all Martin remained committed to the same ideals that led to his becoming a republican activist in the first instance – the pursuit of Irish unification, freedom, equality and respect for all. “It is now over to us to take the struggle from where he has left it.” And as Mr Adams struggled to hold back his emotions, he said rights were at the heart of the struggle for Irish freedom. It was a call for clarity for the whole of Northern Ireland as the Sinn Fein president used his speech to reach out to unionists. He said: “So, here at the graveside of this good man, let me appeal to our unionist neighbours. “Let us learn to like each other, to be friends, to celebrate and enjoy our differences and to do so on the basis of common sense, respect and tolerance for each other and everyone else as equals. Let me appeal also to nationalists and republicans – do nothing to disrespect our unionist neighbours or anyone else. “Stand against bigotry. Against sectarianism. But respect our unionist neighbours. Reach out to them. Lead, as Martin led, by example. “By his example, he showed us it is possible to build peace out of conflict, to build a better and more equal future based on fairness and to build unity out of division. “Martin will continue to inspire and encourage us in the time ahead.
Martin believed that a better Ireland, a genuinely new Ireland is possible.” Mr Adam’s speech, which came after addresses by Michelle O’neill and Mary Lou Macdonald, said his friend had never lost his republican ideals despite becoming a key figure in Stormont. He assured the crowd there had been no “road to Damascus conversion” when Mr Mcguinness joined the political establishment. Extending his heartfelt condolences to his late colleague’s family, Mr Adams said: “This week Ireland lost a hero. Derry lost a son. Sinn Fein lost a leader and I lost a dear friend and a comrade but Martin’s family has suffered the biggest loss of all. They have lost a loving, caring, dedicated husband, father and grandfather, a brother and an uncle.” And as the spring sun began to set over Derry’s hillside graveyard, the farewell ended with Christy Moore singing The Time Has Come. The time has come to part my love, he sang, as the journey for the man from the Bogside ended overlooking the place where it had began.
Martin was committed to the same ideals that led to him becoming a republican SINN FEIN CHIEF GERRY ADAMS DERRY YESTERDAY