The sad death has been announced this morning of former Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness. The SKWAWKBOX offers its condolences to his family and friends and considers that Northern Ireland has lost a great figure.
Tributes have been made by a range of political figures and rightly so. Mr McGuinness was a man who once said that there was no future for the hopes of Irish Republicans without armed struggle but that if anyone could find a way to achieve them without violence he woulld embrace them – and he was true to his word.
One tribute in particular bears mention, though. It comes from former spin-doctor to Tony Blair, Alastair Campbell:
This blog echoes those sentiments and the peace agreement in Northern Ireland was undoubtedly a high point of the Blair government, so Mr Campbell is well placed to comment.
However, his comment should also lay to rest one of the most pernicious tactics used by his Blairite co-religionists against Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn – the ‘friend of terrorists‘ smear.
Martin McGuinness was, for a time, known as the ‘Butcher of Bogside’ and not because he had trained as a butcher’s assistant in his youth. I heard a BBC journalist on the radio this morning, who paid fulsome tribute to Mr McGuinness but also spoke of how terrified he once was, in the early days, when he realised McGuinness and another man were following him down a street.
As Alastair Campbell correctly pointed out, Martin McGuinness was an absolutely central figure in the peace process. Without his willingness to engage – and without the willingness of politicians to engage with him and others like him – there would have been no end to the conflict in Northern Ireland.
The hypocrisy of those who attack Corbyn for his willingness to meet and talk with people that some term terrorists is boundless – and to be clear, to my knowledge this is not something Alastair Campbell has done, in spite of his entrenched opposition to Corbyn’s leadership – and should never have happened. It is to be hoped that it will now cease.
But for now, the focus should be on the passing of a great man who showed that yesterday’s terrorist can become today’s Deputy First Minister – that change is possible and that talking to anyone is a small price to pay for it.
Martin McGuinness, RIP.
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Reblogged this on Sid's Blog and commented:
Yes Skwawkbox, anything is possible
💯%agree with your words and sentiments
Sid
Not me and those letters from Blair to the killers, no prosecution, if you go after the Military that’s one thing, to bomb innocent people that’s another.
Reblogged this on sdbast.
12/15 months into the conflict I walk into my house after a days work to be greeted by my inlaws who had called round uninvited.
Not that I had any problem with them being in my house.
The TV NEWS was on and they were covering N/Ireland.
I happened to mention that one day the leaders on all side would have to sit down and talk.
My father-in-law hit the roof, he was Irish and an Orangeman!
Which I only found out after he left FROM GIVING ME A TONGUE LASHING about THE IRA.
But not before I told him why they would have to talk.
He just wasn’t interested in what I thought!
At that time I knew nothing about Martin McGuiness or any other Leaders of the IRA.
I did know Ian Paisley he was never off the news with his ranting rhetoric, he even had a look of my father-in-law, they could have been brothers in arms!
One person’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter!
But for him and Gerry Adams, those conflicts, in my opinion, would still be prevalent today.
Those who say don’t talk with terrorist are deluded, there is no other way of dealing with conflict that kills innocents and scores of children!
REST IN PEACE, MARTIN McGuiness.
great piece, I shared this via my blog a while ago, you may have seen it, if not, hope it’s of interest. M
We need to re-examine Corbyn’s so-called ‘dangerous friendships’ LUKE DAVIES https://declarationofopinion.wordpress.com/2016/08/22/we-need-to-re-examine-corbyns-so-called-dangerous-friendships-luke-davies/
It’s a shame that in a society it’s acceptable to send a person to kill our “enemy”, yet, as a society we show less acceptance of sending a person to talk to our “enemy”. How can the taking of a human life by a soldier be his duty? Yet again, the diplomacy of a diplomat not be there duty? Both are doing there duty. Both are being asked to do what many of us as a society can’t do. If we are to think that dialogue is the ultimate sin in finding peace then how could there ever be peace? So for finding peace i must thank those who stood up and shared dialogue. That has to include Martin McGuiness who sought diplomacy in conflict. Rest in Peace.
So sadly comments by Tebbit just show what a nasty little mean minded this creature is.
Thanks for this timely blog. I’m fed up with being verbally abused by my defence of Mr Corbyn for saying that he would talk to terrorists.
Reblogged this on perfectlyfadeddelusions.