Frank Feighan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join in the tributes to Martin McGuinness, who made a huge contribution to building peace in Northern Ireland. It is probably true to say that without Martin McGuinness, the peace process may not have happened. He was one of the driving forces behind the Good Friday Agreement and that will be his lasting legacy.

I had the opportunity to get to know Martin very well in my role as Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and as Co-Chairman of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. I found him very personable and engaging. The evidence is clear of a man who showed great character to do what was needed to advance the cause of peace.

I believe The Irish Times obituary today captured the man perfectly when it stated:

Ireland came to know [a man which was] two Martin McGuinnesses. One was, for much of his life, a man of [war] and conflict, dedicated to fighting, as hard as he could, the British authorities, police, army and intelligence services.

The second McGuinness was a man of peace and reconciliation, who for a decade worked hard at building bridges with both London and unionism, from fighting the British state to negotiating with it, from being denounced by the Rev Ian Paisley and ascribing bigotry to him, to chuckling with him.

His contribution to building peace was without doubt one of his great qualities and today, without doubt, we lost a chief architect of the peace process. I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to his wife, Bernie, and their four children and to his colleagues and members of Sinn Féin.