Deputy Mary Lou McDonald please.

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle.

Maybe the people would. Party before country.

Deputy McDonald has the floor.

I want to share in the expressions of sympathy with Captain Dara Fitzpatrick's family and, indeed, with the families of the missing crew of Rescue 116, and acknowledge the passing of Mrs. Maureen Haughey and the loss of young Ryan McBride of Derry City.

Today, I stand here in place of my party leader, Deputy Adams, who spent the night in Derry with the family of our departed friend and comrade, Martin McGuinness. I stand here with a mixture of great pride but also sorrow. I want to place on the record my condolences and those of Sinn Féin to Bernie, Emmet, Fionnuala, Gráinne and Fiachra, to their grandchildren and the extended McGuinness family. They have lost a husband, a brother, a father, a grandfather and a friend.

I want to acknowledge the kind words of President Higgins, those kind words from the Taoiseach, and, indeed, from others in this House. There is no doubt that we have lost a great leader of Irish republicanism. Martin inspired a generation. He showed a generation that achieving real political change is possible. He was a man who stood up to injustice, who fought injustice, and was a man who promoted peace and reconciliation. Martin McGuinness, by any measure, made a huge difference.

The constant in Martin's life was Irish republicanism. He had a genuine and heartfelt desire for equality and for Irish unity and he worked on this goal until his dying day. That is the core to understanding his political activism, his leadership and, indeed, his life. Martin always conducted himself with integrity and with humility. As the House will be aware, he was my party's chief negotiator in the Good Friday and other agreements, agreements that promised that equality would be the basis for progress and the basis for a peaceful pathway to Irish unity. He acted as education Minister and then as deputy First Minister and he wished to see those agreements fully implemented. As the House will be aware, he extended the hand of friendship to political opponents and demonstrated a real respect for everybody in society. He was a patriot and a dedicated peacemaker, a respected statesman.

Martin was a leader of immense stature and when, as happened recently, the agreements which he fought for and stood by were undermined, when confidence in the political institutions was eroded, he acted. In the words of our colleague, Michelle O'Neill, "When something is broken, you stop and you fix it". It was the desire of Martin to see the institutions in the North up and working. He wanted to see our hard-won agreements implemented and to have equality, respect and integrity restored to the political process. That is the work that we all have ahead of us. I believe these are shared objectives for everybody in this Dáil. Today, I want to ask the Taoiseach if he can commit to redouble the efforts of his Government to see the full and speedy implementation of all aspects of those agreements.

Ba mhaith liomsa ar dtús comhbhrón a dhéanamh lena bhean chéile, Bernie, agus a chlann, na gasúir, Emmet, Fionnuala, Gráinne agus Fiachra, as ucht bás a fir chéile agus a n-athar. Martin McGuinness became a peacemaker and travelled the road from terror to truce and through peace to government. The high office he held as deputy First Minister with three First Ministers was put together, in part, by this State on foot of its co-guarantorship of the Good Friday Agreement. He was a person who lived by his convictions and in my dealings with him as a politician on the North-South Ministerial Council, the British-Irish Council and in many other arenas, he was always generous and courteous but committed fully to the democratic way of achieving peace. He articulated that on many occasions. When I encountered Martin McGuinness abroad, we were very happy to provide him and the Northern Ireland Office with the facilities of our State in terms of diplomatic connections and invitations to meet with potential investors for the island of Ireland. He was always happy to raise the issues, of which there were many, with the governments of the day here, in Britain and at European level.

The answer to Deputy McDonald's question is "Yes". The Good Friday Agreement was established and voted on North and South by the people, who were overwhelmingly in support of it. It was enshrined as a legally-binding international Agreement backed by Europe, the United States of American and both Governments and it was lodged with the United Nations. There are issues, as Deputy McDonald is well aware, which have not been dealt with. I have a particular interest in the question of legacy issues, of which there are many. I would like to think that following through from the Fresh Start Agreement we can all redouble our efforts in the interests of everyone from all sides of the communities to deal with these issues which should be and can be dealt with.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

I thank the Taoiseach for those kind words. We are all very well aware of the outstanding issues that must be resolved. Let it be noted that they are old issues. These are matters that were identified, discussed, negotiated and agreed many years ago but still we await their implementation. That is what this comes down to. I am aware that the Government, not least in the person of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, has been involved in the discussions so far. However, I put it to the Taoiseach that we need to intensify efforts now. It is either that or we tread water. When it comes to making peace, advancing the peace process and making progress across Ireland, treading water is not an option. What will the Taoiseach do now to intensify the efforts to arrive at agreement? What engagement will he have with the British Government? I note the Taoiseach's comment that direct rule is not an option, which we very much welcome. Can he reassure us that this remains the position of the Government and that it will be articulated, iterated and reiterated, if necessary, to Theresa May and her Tory Government?

The first priority is for the politicians who have been elected to the Assembly to accept their responsibilities and put together a functioning Executive within the three-week period from the date of the election. There is a set period for that now. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Flanagan, has gone to the North again and has had conversations this morning with Secretary of State Brokenshire. It depends on the two major parties, the DUP and Sinn Féin. A functioning Executive is one with an agreed set of objectives, principles and propositions to put forward. When Prime Minister May met the devolved assemblies in Cardiff recently, she was given a presentation by First Minister Jones from Wales and First Minister Sturgeon from Scotland but there was no presentation from Northern Ireland because there is no agreement and no leadership.

The election is over and the result is very clear and the Deputy's party has made substantial gains. It now has a responsibility to work with the major party or parties to put together an Executive that functions. The Executive must be able to set out what it wants for Northern Ireland and what the agreed objectives can be.

The Governments need to fulfil their commitments too, I am sure.

While the late Martin McGuinness had differences of opinion with former First Minister Foster, they set out an agreed set of principles and objectives which were sent to Prime Minister May last year. The Sinn Féin Party now needs to measure up to what Martin McGuinness did and put aside differences in the greater interests of the peoples of Northern Ireland in respect of the objectives they wish to pursue. For my part, I will be very happy as head of Government with our Ministers to work with the British Government and the Prime Minister in the interest of pursuing the many outstanding issues since the Good Friday Agreement was put in place in 1998. The immediate priority and the responsibility of the elected politicians in Northern Ireland is to put together a functional Executive. Otherwise we are trying to speak for them from this distance or from other locations. It would be much more preferable if we had an agreed position, stating it as our proposition, and while there will be differences of opinion this does not prevent doing what Martin McGuinness did in the greater interest of peace and harmony in the communities in the North.