Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to share in the expressions of sympathy with Captain Dara Fitzpatrick's family and, indeed, with the families of the missing crew of Rescue 116, and acknowledge the passing of Mrs. Maureen Haughey and the loss of young Ryan McBride of Derry City.

Today, I stand here in place of my party leader, Deputy Adams, who spent the night in Derry with the family of our departed friend and comrade, Martin McGuinness. I stand here with a mixture of great pride but also sorrow. I want to place on the record my condolences and those of Sinn Féin to Bernie, Emmet, Fionnuala, Gráinne and Fiachra, to their grandchildren and the extended McGuinness family. They have lost a husband, a brother, a father, a grandfather and a friend.

I want to acknowledge the kind words of President Higgins, those kind words from the Taoiseach, and, indeed, from others in this House. There is no doubt that we have lost a great leader of Irish republicanism. Martin inspired a generation. He showed a generation that achieving real political change is possible. He was a man who stood up to injustice, who fought injustice, and was a man who promoted peace and reconciliation. Martin McGuinness, by any measure, made a huge difference.

The constant in Martin's life was Irish republicanism. He had a genuine and heartfelt desire for equality and for Irish unity and he worked on this goal until his dying day. That is the core to understanding his political activism, his leadership and, indeed, his life. Martin always conducted himself with integrity and with humility. As the House will be aware, he was my party's chief negotiator in the Good Friday and other agreements, agreements that promised that equality would be the basis for progress and the basis for a peaceful pathway to Irish unity. He acted as education Minister and then as deputy First Minister and he wished to see those agreements fully implemented. As the House will be aware, he extended the hand of friendship to political opponents and demonstrated a real respect for everybody in society. He was a patriot and a dedicated peacemaker, a respected statesman.

Martin was a leader of immense stature and when, as happened recently, the agreements which he fought for and stood by were undermined, when confidence in the political institutions was eroded, he acted. In the words of our colleague, Michelle O'Neill, "When something is broken, you stop and you fix it". It was the desire of Martin to see the institutions in the North up and working. He wanted to see our hard-won agreements implemented and to have equality, respect and integrity restored to the political process. That is the work that we all have ahead of us. I believe these are shared objectives for everybody in this Dáil. Today, I want to ask the Taoiseach if he can commit to redouble the efforts of his Government to see the full and speedy implementation of all aspects of those agreements.

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