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| Death of Martin McGuinness: reaction and tributes – politics live | Death of Martin McGuinness: reaction and tributes – politics live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 8.30am GMT | |
| 08:30 | |
| Enda Kenny's tribute | |
| The Irish taoiseach, Enda Kenny, has issued this tribute to Martin McGuinness. | |
| I was deeply saddened to hear of the death of Martin McGuinness today. His passing represents a significant loss, not only to politics in Northern Ireland but to the wider political landscape on this island and beyond. | |
| Martin will always be remembered for the remarkable political journey that he undertook in his lifetime. Not only did Martin come to believe that peace must prevail, he committed himself to working tirelessly to that end. | |
| Martin was one of the chief architects of the Good Friday agreement and he worked resolutely in the years that followed it in pursuit of its full implementation. I got to know Martin well in recent years, including through our working together in the North South ministerial council. His commitment to securing enduring peace and prosperity for all of the people of Northern Ireland was unwavering throughout this time. He strove to make Northern Ireland a better place for everyone, regardless of background or tradition. | |
| Above all, today is an especially sad day for Martin’s family - his wife Bernie, and his children - and for the people of Derry, who held a special place in Martin’s heart. | |
| My deepest sympathies are with all of them at this sad and difficult time. | |
| Updated | |
| at 8.32am GMT | |
| 8.26am GMT | |
| 08:26 | |
| Q: What would you say to those who argued that the Good Friday agreement showed violence worked? | |
| Blair does not accept this. | |
| Q: But they are in power. | |
| But not through violence, says Blair. He says Sinn Fein are in power because they committed to peace. | |
| He says he hopes McGuinness’s life will remind people how important it is to remain committed to peace. | |
| Q: The settlement is at risk. | |
| Blair says the peace process is “fragile”. And it is at risk. | |
| Q: It is extraordinary that a former prime minister is saying we can draw inspiration from the life of a terrorist. | |
| It is, says Blair. But it shows that sometimes politics can work. | |
| And that’s it. The Blair interview is over. | |
| 8.23am GMT | |
| 08:23 | |
| Tony Blair's Today programme tribute | |
| Tony Blair is being interviewed on Today now about Martin McGuinness. | |
| Q: When did you realise the IRA was willing to negotiate? | |
| Blair says the IRA ceasefire had broken down as Labour was coming into office in 1997. | |
| He says he met McGuinness then. McGuinness was clear that there was a stalemate, and that it was doing immense damage. He says McGuinness wanted to see if there was a way forward. | |
| John Humprhys is interviewing Blair. He was a correspondent in Northern Ireland in the 1970s and he says interviewing McGuinness then was frightening, because you could imagine him looking down the barrel of a gun. | |
| Blair says he can understand why people felt that. But he says the determination that McGuinness showed at that stage was also deployed when he committed himself to peace. | |
| He recalls his first proper meeting with McGuinness, in the cabinet room. McGuinness said this was where the damage was done. He explained that he meant the partition agreement, but Blair and his team thought they were talking about the IRA mortar attack. | |
| Blair says McGuinness thought pursuing peace was consistent with the motives behind the armed struggle. But he pursued it with courage, Blair says. He says if McGuinness had not been committed to the peace process, it would not have succeeded. | |
| Q: Did you for a moment think you should not have been speaking to him? | |
| Blair says he never forgot the victims of terrorism. But, when he thought there was a possibility of peace, he was determined to pursue it. | |
| He says without McGuinness they would never had got the Good Friday agreement. That was in 1998. But the peace was not fully agreed until just before he left office in 2007, when McGuinness formed a government with Ian Paisley. | |
| It was extraordinary, Blair says. If someone had said in 1997 that that would have happened, Blair says he would have thought they were completely mad. | |
| Updated | |
| at 8.35am GMT | |
| 8.16am GMT | |
| 08:16 | |
| Andrew Sparrow | |
| Hello. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Matthew and Claire. | |
| Gerry Kelly, a former IRA figure and a leading Sinn Féin politician, is on Today now, paying tribute to Martin McGuinness. | |
| He says he wants to explain what was happening when McGuinness was young. There was no democratic way forward for his community, Kelly says. | |
| He says later it became clear that there was a military stalemate. There was always a belief that the conflict would have to end. McGuinness showed “massive leadership”, Kelly says. | |
| He says, had he been born anywhere else, he would have been a huge figure, because he had that kind of intellect. | |
| Updated | |
| at 8.34am GMT | |
| 8.08am GMT | |
| 08:08 | |
| Theresa May's tribute | |
| The prime minister, Theresa May, has issued a statement saying that while she could “never condone the path he took in the earlier part of his life, Martin McGuinness ultimately played a defining role in leading the republican movement away from violence”. | |
| In doing so, he made an essential and historic contribution to the extraordinary journey of Northern Ireland from conflict to peace. While we certainly didn’t always see eye-to-eye even in later years, as deputy first minister for nearly a decade he was one of the pioneers of implementing cross-community power-sharing in Northern Ireland. He understood both its fragility and its precious significance and played a vital part in helping to find a way through many difficult moments. At the heart of it all was his profound optimism for the future of Northern Ireland – and I believe we should all hold fast to that optimism today. | |
| Updated | |
| at 8.37am GMT | |
| 8.06am GMT | |
| 08:06 | |
| Tony Blair's tribute | |
| The former prime minister Tony Blair, who worked with McGuinness on the peace process, said he was sorry to learn of his death. | |
| I grew up watching and hearing about the Martin McGuinness who was a leading member of the IRA engaged in armed struggle. I came to know the Martin McGuinness who set aside that armed struggle in favour of making peace. There will be some who cannot forget the bitter legacy of the war. And for those who lost loved ones in it that is completely understandable. But for those of us able finally to bring about the Northern Ireland peace agreement, we know we could never have done it without Martin’s leadership, courage and quiet insistence that the past should not define the future. | |
| After first meeting in Northern Ireland and then again shortly after in Downing Street – an historic meeting, between a British PM and the republican leadership in the cabinet room where so much Irish history had been made – he explained at length to me the causes of republican grievance. I listened. We talked. And as the meeting went on he explained why he thought, despite all the grievance, there was a chance for peace. | |
| Over the years – through the arduous negotiation of the Good Friday agreement – and for the years after it, I got to know Martin well. We met many, many times and as the trust grew between himself, my team, Gerry Adams and their team, so the discussions became increasingly open, frank and therefore productive. | |
| By the time that extraordinary day arrived in 2007 after almost a decade of hard work where we could witness the – to my generation – incredible sight of he and Ian Paisley sitting down together in government, the transition of Martin to reconciliator was complete. | |
| Whatever the past, the Martin I knew was a thoughtful, reflective and committed individual. Once he became the peacemaker he became it wholeheartedly and with no shortage of determined opposition to those who wanted to carry on the war. | |
| I will remember him therefore with immense gratitude for the part he played in the peace process and with genuine affection for the man I came to know and admire for his contribution to peace. | |
| Updated | |
| at 8.37am GMT | |
| 8.02am GMT | 8.02am GMT |
| 08:02 | 08:02 |
| Here is a bit more from Colin Parry whose son Tim died in a IRA bomb in Warrington in 1993. | Here is a bit more from Colin Parry whose son Tim died in a IRA bomb in Warrington in 1993. |
| “I don’t forgive the IRA, nor does my wife, nor do my children,” he told the BBC. “But, setting aside forgiveness, the simple fact is I found Martin McGuinness an easy and pleasant man to talk to – a man who I believe was sincere in his desire for peace, for maintaining the peace process at all costs. | |
| “And I think he deserves great credit for his most recent life rather than more than his earlier life, for which I don’t think anything in his most recent life can atone. | |
| That said, he was still a brave man, who put himself at some risk within some elements of his own community in Northern Ireland.” | That said, he was still a brave man, who put himself at some risk within some elements of his own community in Northern Ireland.” |
| Updated | |
| at 8.37am GMT | |
| 7.50am GMT | 7.50am GMT |
| 07:50 | 07:50 |
| Arlene Foster, the Democratic Unionist party leader and former Northern Ireland first minister, has expressed her “sincere condolences” at the death of Martin McGuinness. | Arlene Foster, the Democratic Unionist party leader and former Northern Ireland first minister, has expressed her “sincere condolences” at the death of Martin McGuinness. |
| Today’s news will come as a shock to many people. First and foremost, Martin McGuinness was a much loved husband, father and grandfather. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife and the family circle at this very painful time of grief and loss. | Today’s news will come as a shock to many people. First and foremost, Martin McGuinness was a much loved husband, father and grandfather. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife and the family circle at this very painful time of grief and loss. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 8.38am GMT | |
| 7.46am GMT | 7.46am GMT |
| 07:46 | 07:46 |
| The former Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain described McGuinness as a “pivotal figure” in the peace process. | The former Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain described McGuinness as a “pivotal figure” in the peace process. |
| Condolences to @M_McGuinness_SF family such a pivotal essential figure in Northern Ireland peace process | Condolences to @M_McGuinness_SF family such a pivotal essential figure in Northern Ireland peace process |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 8.38am GMT | |
| 7.42am GMT | 7.42am GMT |
| 07:42 | 07:42 |
| The Guardian’s Ireland correspondent Henry McDonald has more reaction from the outgoing Ulster Unionist leader, Mike Nesbitt, who said this would be a “challenging day for victims of the Troubles”. | The Guardian’s Ireland correspondent Henry McDonald has more reaction from the outgoing Ulster Unionist leader, Mike Nesbitt, who said this would be a “challenging day for victims of the Troubles”. |
| I believe no one needed to die to get Northern Ireland to where it is today. Clearly Martin McGuinness very actively disagreed with that analysis, but I also accept in his later years he was on a journey to create change through politics, becoming a pivotal figure at Stormont. | I believe no one needed to die to get Northern Ireland to where it is today. Clearly Martin McGuinness very actively disagreed with that analysis, but I also accept in his later years he was on a journey to create change through politics, becoming a pivotal figure at Stormont. |
| It would be less than honest if I said other than that I found him a straight-dealing politician in any engagement I had with him. | It would be less than honest if I said other than that I found him a straight-dealing politician in any engagement I had with him. |
| History will reflect a complex life story. | History will reflect a complex life story. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 8.38am GMT | |