firstly, despite the propaganda to the contrary, fianna fail and fine gael do not regard us as deeplyow that, in fact, increasingly, we are a deeply attractive political option for a growing section of irish society. they wish to keep us out of government, not because they don't believe that we are, or as they say, that we're not fit for government, but rather because they know full well that we're more than fit for government, they know that we are ready, that we have the policy platform, that we have the people, we have the talent in the team that i lead, and increasingly we have a strengthened mandate. mary lou mcdonald, i have to put to you the words of the current prime minister, taoiseach, micheal martin, who said this, at the time of the government formation crisis — he said, "the fundamental issue that we and fianna fail have with sinn fein is that they do not operate to the same democratic standards held by every other party in irish politics." well, anybody who is familiar with fianna fail, with the party that the now—taoiseach leads, will appreciate the very profound irony

least consider whether you would work the two old established parties in ireland, fianna fail and fine gaele truth is what we saw is that both of those old parties regard you still, sinn fein, as still a deeply toxic political organisation and you did virtually nothing to reach out to them. so, let me take that question in two parts, with an answer in two parts. firstly, despite the propaganda to the contrary, fianna fail and fine gail do not regarded us as deeply toxic. they regard and know that, in fact, increasingly, we are a deeply attractive political option for a growing section of irish society. they wish to keep us out of government, not because they believe we are not fit for government but rather because they know full well that we are more than fit for government. they know that we are ready and we have the policy platform, that we have the people and talent in the team that i lead and, increasingly, we have the strength and mandate. mary lou mcdonald, i have to put you the words of the current prime minister, teoiseach micheal martin, he said this at the time of the government f

simon coveney, deputy leader of fine gael party, said "all of us should bow our heads in respect andaker, politician, leader, civil rights campaigner". former prime minister sirjohn major paid tribute tojohn hume's drive for peace, saying: "few others invested such time and energy to this search, and few sought to change entrenched attitudes with such fierce determination". earlier, my colleaguejoanna gosling spoke tojonathan powell, who was tony blair's chief of staff and helped negotiate the good friday agreement. i think the most striking thing aboutjohn hume was his bravery. he was brave going into the civil rights movement and taken part in those marches are copied beaten up badly. he was brave and standing up to the ira despite living in the bogside in derry. he was brave in reaching out to derek —— gerry adams, and was denounced when the secret meetings were fine dates. he led to the first ira ceasefire. that bravery very much deserved the nobel prize that he received. bringing together people with such entrenched views is no mean feat. how was he when you dealt with him? how

simon coveney — deputy leader of fine gael party said "all of us should bow our heads in respect andhis bravery. he was brave going into the civil rights movement and taking part in those matches. he was brave in standing up to the ira despite living in a bombed site in derry and denouncing violence consistently and he was brave reaching out to gerry adams to make peace and was denounced when his secret meetings we re denounced when his secret meetings were found out. but he actually led to the first ira ceasefire and the good friday agreement so he deserves the nobel peace prize. bringing together people with such divergent and entrenched views is no mean feat. how was he when you dealt with him? how did that ability come across? he was very, very persistent. he would get you in the corridors, get you forever he could, trying to push forward to get a piece. he was determined to end violence are determined to end violence are determined to end violence are determined to get to a peaceful and equal settlement in northern ireland andi equal settlement in northern ireland and i really t