Martin McGuinness Enantiodromia from man of violence to peacemaker

Martin McGuinness Enantiodromia from man of violence to peacemaker

The death of Martin McGuiness gives much scope for debate. The truth is he moved from man of war to man of peace. The truth is that this process of change shows a profound understanding of the situation. The Unionist control of the north is underpinned by violence for over 400 years. The skill of transformation is a real mark of genius and the ability to persuade and influence the IRA and others to hand over their arms and accept peace is staggering. In the 1960s the IRA was virtually dead and yet it was oppression by the Unionists that brought it back to life. The British army sent in as peacekeepers then simply appeared as supporters of the Unionist domination. McGiinness enabled transformation and began a long term process of Irish reunification making real the dreams of Michael Connor. The end of violence is a dream for many Their will be those horrified by my words yet we must realise that all armed struggles end this way. Even the Thatcher government had channels of communication with the IRA. I have always had sympathy with the Republicans and have always supported a united Ireland. We all must ask ourselves what we would do under a repressive government and we would all answer that question differently . I wonder what any of us would do and i mourn the death of Martin McGuiness ... The British state accepted former terrorists as Begin and Makarios as politicians .The British state has supported terrorists when it's interests were served. McGuinness realised violence would no longer serve its purpose have our conventional politicians made the same realisation i do not think so. Paisley and McGuinness both marked a massive personal transformation and brought peace .If i had been raised in similar circumstances to Martin McGuinness i might well have made the decisions he made. I know that under a far right or fascist government I certainly would have...The move from war to peace was mirrored in Paisley's movement from bigotry to tolerance ..An enantiodromia we all benefit from RIP Martin McGuinness we have all benefited from your transformation .Those who learn from their past are the real transformers and bringers of peace and reconciliation .