Martin McGuinness: Sinn Féin politician dies aged 66 - BBC News
I must admit, I'm not sure how to react to this. I mean, yes, in later life he was part of the peace process in Northern Ireland, but for a long time before that he was a killer, a major figure in the IRA, and responsible for I don't know how many deaths. As a politician, he refused to acknowledge his ties to the IRA and in so doing left, and leaves, many families without closure as he refused to share what he knew about the remaining "disappeared", those people executed by the IRA and whose bodies have never been found.
He worked for peace, yes, but did he do this for its own sake or to try to reinvent himself and change his image? I see a lot of tributes to him now that he's passed, and I have to think of those who sit at home looking at pictures of loved ones murdered by the IRA and wonder how they feel? Are they glad he's dead, or do they now mourn that they will never be able to bury their loved ones?
Does he deserve the accolades, and is it right to forget and/or forgive his past? They say the good men do is soon forgotten but the evil lives on, but in this case is not the opposite true, and is it right that it should be that way?
Comments welcome.