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Corrymeela leader reflects on life of Martin McGuinness


Pádraig Ó Tuama the leader of the Corrymeela community, the Christian centre for peace and reconciliation in Ballycastle, Northern Ireland reflects on the life of Martin McGuinness - whose life was marked by a move from violence to peacemaking and reconciliation. He writes:

I first met Martin McGuinness when he and Peter Robinson opened the Davey Village at Corrymeela. He was speaking about violence and peacemaking and he spoke about how people need to come on individual journeys. It hadn't been long since he'd shaken the hand of the Queen. I'd written a poem about that handshake and, to my surprise, he quoted some of the poem.

We got chatting afterwards. He said to come visit him in Stormont. So, I did. It was the first of a number of meetings over the next years.

Mostly we spoke about poetry. He wrote some poetry himself, but mostly he loved reading it, Patrick Kavanagh in particular. He loved Kavanagh's ones about clay, the ones about the fields, the ones about family members -- In Memory of my Mother and the one that I can never remember about old men in 'October coloured weather'.

To read on see: www.corrymeela.org/news/73/martin-mcguinness

For more information about the Corrymeela community, see: www.corrymeela.org/about

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