If my good friend Martin McGuinness were still around things would be different 04 June, 2021 00:59 Last December Bernie McGuinness joined with me to present a cheque for £10,000 to the NW Cancer Centre. This was the proceeds of my book A Leap of Faith which, in the words of President Clinton, recounts the remarkable friendship Martin and I enjoyed for 10 years. Four years following his untimely death people from the Protestant/unionist tradition still tell me, “David, if your friend were still around things would be different.” It is said that Bobby Kennedy was talked about by a generation. It wasn’t so much about what he did as how he made you feel. The same can be said of Martin McGuinness. A year after his passing I unexpectedly found myself in the company of one of the hospital consultants who had treated Martin. During an impromptu conversation the consultant spoke of Martin as a man, “with a special ability to interact with people in a way that embodied respect and interest; a man who valued each person regardless of who they were, what was their background or their status”. Undeniably it was his generosity of spirit, in tandem with his political nous, that took on a life of its own during protracted peace negotiations. Assuredly, this attracts attention to the man whose heart, by his own admission, “lies in the Bogside and with the people of Derry”.