John Dolan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Civil Engagement group, I express our sympathies to the McGuinness family, to Martin's wife, his children and grandchildren. Last autumn, I found myself grieving for somebody else called Martin, a great disability advocate and leader. I am not raising that for any other reason than to make the point that maybe I have some sense of the rawness, grief and loss of Martin's family and of those who loved him, those who worked and struggled with him and, indeed, those who might not have been of his persuasion who came to respect him in more recent years.

I met Martin once in Glenties at the MacGill summer school. We had dinner together with some other people. When he started to talk to me about his fishing, I began to get a bit upset that I was eating a fish myself at the time. That did not prove to be a problem.

Martin clearly had an easy way with people. In that sense, he was born to be a politician. If times had been different, that might have been a path taken earlier by him.

I have often thought what I would have done if I saw the guardians of the peace of the Republic of Ireland, the Garda Síochána, or indeed the armed forces, come into my community and behave in a way that was quite the opposite of the way they should. We should consider that people found themselves not only without the support of the those who were supposed to protect them but also quite the opposite.

Martin was so important for conflict resolution but more so in peace building. That is how I would like to remember him. I do not know how his beloved wife, Bernie, his partner all his whole life with all the ups and downs, and his children will cope and deal with this. It will be the kindness of people and their support that will bring her and the others through this.

May he rest in peace. My sympathies to all those who knew Martin and grieve his passing.