Quotes from Martin McGuinness

I never talk about shooting anybody, but I do acknowledge I was a member of the IRA, and as a member of the IRA, I obviously engaged in fighting back against the British army.

I carry out my full duties as Deputy First Minister and accept I have tinnitus but appreciate the hearing that I do have and that it does not limit me in a professional or personal capacity.

In 2016, let us all join the Rising, and the only final message is this very clear: Up the Rebels. Up a sovereign and independent Irish republic.

My ultimate dream would be for Derry City to become champions of an all-Ireland league in a united Ireland.

I lost a lot of friends at the hands of the British Army. The person who actually introduced me to my wife, Colm Keenan, was murdered by the British Army. He was a member of the IRA, but he was unarmed.

War is terrible. There is nothing romantic about war.

The engagements I had with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles were about reaching out and showing respect to the unionist people. I also recognised that when someone like her makes acts of reconciliation as she did do at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin, she is 100% behind the peace process.

Sinn Fein is an Irish Republican party. We stood in the Assembly election to deliver a prosperous economy and jobs, to protect and enhance public services, support those most in need, and to progress Irish Unity.

The task ahead of us will be extremely challenging as the Tory party continue with their austerity agenda and as we continue to resolve the issues of the past and build unity, reconciliation, and equality.

We all have a responsibility to advance the process of reconciliation, and as a political leader, I am committed to leading from the front and to continue to take bold and significant steps.

Obviously everybody is accountable for their own actions, and everybody has to make judgments based on their own conscience as to whether or not they believe what they were doing is right or wrong.

Commemorations can stimulate debate, which will ultimately lead to a greater understanding of the events of our 'through-other' history and to shape a better future.

It is Cameron's cabinet of millionaires who are the real spongers given free rein to live out their Thatcherite fantasies at the expense of ordinary, decent communities throughout these islands.

But the fact is that the vast majority of Republicans support the Sinn Fein leadership.

It is amazing that you now have a bus company in Ballymena producing world class buses for Hong Kong, Singapore, London and Las Vegas.

The fact is that a car used by Gerry Adams and myself during the course of the Mitchell review was bugged by elements within British military intelligence.

The war against British rule must continue until freedom is achieved.

I haven't done anything that I'm ashamed of.

If the British government is prepared to say that the Unionists will not have a veto over British government policy and that guns, vetoes and injustices will all be left outside the door, then there is no good reason why talks cannot take place in an appropriate atmosphere.

I'm still an Irish republican; I absolutely believe in Irish unity and am working to achieve that. But over the course of 15 years or more, people like myself and others have been working to end the vicious cycle of conflict.

I want to work with Peter Robinson as first minister in a positive, constructive way and leave the elections to the electorate.

Obviously, Ian Paisley and I were regarded as very bitter opponents. When we decided in March 2007 to govern together, both of us understood that we weren't going to change our views but that we had to work with one another if we were to end the conflict and move forward.

What's important is that, when you're tested, you stand firm against the violent activities of those who would try to plunge our people back into the misery of the past.

Freedom can be gained only at the point of an IRA rifle, and I apologize to no one for saying that we support the freedom fighters of the IRA.