Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness were close political and IRA allies for 45 years
SINN Féin’s Gerry Adams says he still has not come to terms with the loss of his close political ally and friend, saying: “I will miss him dearly.”’
But the Sinn Fein president said his party was prepared to carry on his political legacy in building efforts for reconciliation, equality and respect for all.
Derry is still coming to terms with the former Deputy First Minister’s death in the early hours of Monday morning in Altnagelvin hospital after a short illness.
Around 2,000 people followed his remains home to his Westland Avenue home in the Bogside yesterday afternoon where his wife and children waked him for close family, friends, neighbours and republicans could pay their last respects to the former Foyle MLA.
Tomorrow afternoon, the city of Derry will come to a standstill for his 2 pm Requiem Mass as republicans from acrsso Ireland along with politicians and church figures come to pay their respects to Mr McGuinness.
Mr Adams said: “I’ll miss him on a personal level a huge amount, it’s a very sad, I haven’t come to terms with it yet,” he said.
“I have known Martin for 45 years.
“We have had many adventures, many laughs, many risky enterprises, we’ve been through all sorts of trials and tribulations, good times and the bad times.
“But what I’ll miss won’t be the politics, it’ll be the craic, the storytelling and the banter and all the things that make up friendship.
“It’s a big loss for his family, for his wife, Bernie was the epicentre of his existence, he was grounded in his family, Fiachra and Emmett and Fionnuala and Grainne, eight grandchildren, they’ve all had a great loss, in this city and I think [in] Irish politics, Martin also tried to bring what we learnt about peace-making to other parts of the world.”
He added: “It’s sad that at a time when he was looking forward so much to being away from public office, and he was looking forward, not from activism but from 10 years of OFMDFM and years before that in the Department for Education, it just shows you how fragile life is.”
Mr McGuinness stood down as deputy First Minister in January over the so-called ‘cash for ash’ scandal when First Minister Arlene Foster refused to step aside amid an investigation. The move saw the Executive collapse and a snap election triggered.
When asked about the current negotiations underway to try and return power-sharing to Stormont, Mr Adams said that he would miss the continuity and experience from working together with him.
“Martin isn’t there, but he has a legacy and part of our commitment has to be to build on that legacy, and that is to make it work and that’s what we have to do,” Mr Adams commented.
He said his friend’s legacy is proving that “everything is possible”.
“When he was born here he wasn’t wanted by this state and now that’s changed and changed utterly and he and many other people are responsible for that,” Mr Adams concluded.
“We’ve a long stretch of the road to go yet and it’s a matter of making what Martin pioneered the reality because he also lived in the future.
“He was very conscious of his past and his roots, but he lived in the future and that’s what we all need to do.”
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