Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

We in the Social Democrats were very saddened to hear of the death of Martin McGuinness. It was a very short illness and it certainly feels sudden and untimely. We extend our sympathies to his wife and family and also to the Sinn Féin Party which will be feeling a huge void as a result of his passing. During the Troubles, Ireland, and particularly Northern Ireland, experienced some of its darkest hours when politics failed and violence took over. The peace process that followed was one of the finest hours for politics. That is what it was - a process. At all times, it needed, and needs, leadership. Martin McGuinness's willingness to work with people and the strength of character he showed by taking ownership of his past while acknowledging the need to move away from it helped to take this island beyond conflict and destruction and into a modern democracy. It is not surprising today on the occasion of his passing that we hear many warm tributes paid to him. None of us would have predicted when the Good Friday Agreement was signed that such a warm and successful relationship would have been struck up between Martin McGuinness and Dr. Ian Paisley. The warmth and honesty of that relationship is not written into any agreement, nor could it be, but is the very human thing that was an essential component in developing the respect and reconciliation needed to make the peace process successful to date. May he rest in peace.

I ask that we also be associated with the expressions of sympathy to the family of Captain Dara Fitzpatrick and the hope for the recovery of the crew of helicopter R116, and to the families of Maureen Haughey and Ryan McBride.

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