In the past I have defended the right of the IRA to engage in armed struggle. I did so because there was no alternative for those who would not bend the knee, or turn a blind eye to oppression, or for those who wanted a national republic.

It will always be a battle a day between those who want maximum change and those who want to maintain the status quo.

Sinn Fein has productively taken the example of South Africa and, as we develop the peace process, we continue to use examples from South Africa.

The Good Friday Agreement and the basic rights and entitlements of citizens that are enshrined within it must be defended and actively promoted by London and Dublin.

The catalyst for much of this change is the growing support for republicanism.

The days of humiliation, of second-class citizens and of inequality are over and gone forever.

The Irish Republican Army has kept every commitment made by its leadership.

Republican patience with how unionism deals with the political institutions, and with key issues like equality and human rights, will be tested because, obviously, there will be a battle a day on these matters. So lets face up to all of this with our eyes wide open.

One man's transparency is another's humiliation.

The way forward is by building political support for republican and democratic objectives across Ireland and by winning support for these goals internationally.

Sinn Fein has the potential and capacity to become the vehicle for the attainment of republican objectives.

In this context the British and Irish governments will have to promote a new, imaginative and dynamic alternative in which both governments will share power in the north.

But if republicans are to prevail, if the peace process is to be successfully concluded and Irish sovereignty and re-unification secured, then we have to set the agenda - no-one else is going to do that.

The unionists also for their part, want to minimise the potential for change, not only on the equality agenda but on the issues of sovereignty and ending the union.

The last months, weeks and days have seen accelerating discussions, involving the DUP for the first time, about a comprehensive agreement which would see all outstanding matters dealt with and the Good Friday Agreement implemented in full.

For over 30 years, the IRA showed that the British government could not rule Ireland on its own terms.

We have to make sure the Good Friday Agreement works.

Making peace, I have found, is much harder than making war.

When others stood idly by, you and your families gave your all, in defence of a risen people and in pursuit of Irish freedom and unity.

Hugging trees has a calming effect on me. I'm talking about enormous trees that will be there when we are all dead and gone. I've hugged trees in every part of this little island.

We are totally committed to ending partition and to creating the conditions for unity and independence.

Your determination, selflessness and courage have brought the freedom struggle towards its fulfilment.

Such decisions will be far reaching and difficult. But you never lacked courage in the past. Your courage is now needed for the future.

Sinn Fein has demonstrated the ability to play a leadership role as part of a popular movement towards peace, equality and justice.

But I also hold the very strong view that republicans need to lead by example.

In the past I have defended the right of the IRA to engage in armed struggle. I did so because there was no alternative for those who would not bend the knee, or turn a blind eye to oppression, or for those who wanted a national republic.

At that time, the army leadership said the implementation of this agreement would allow everyone, including the IRA, to take its political objectives forward by peaceful and democratic means.

Your ability as republican volunteers, to rise to this challenge will mean that the two governments and others cannot easily hide from their obligations and their responsibility to resolve these problems.

I think there is a huge responsibility upon governments to understand the consequence of their decisions.

If I didn't forgive the people who took me into the barracks and beat me unconscious over a period of days during the period when the British state was indicted for inhuman and degrading treatment in 1971-72, or even the guys who shot me, if you don't forgive them, you end up with unnecessary baggage.

If you militarise a situation, you beg for an armed response.

Your determination, selflessness and courage have brought the freedom struggle towards its fulfillment.

A blind man can make art if what is in his mind can be passed to another mind in some tangible form.

Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind.

But I tend to think of the expressive part of me as rather tedious - never curious or responsive, but blind and self-serving.

I had plenty of pimples as a kid. One day I fell asleep in the library. When I woke up, a blind man was reading my face.

Effective use of Braille is as important to the blind as independent mobility, knowledge in the use of adaptive technology, and the core belief that equality, opportunity and security are truly possible for all people who are blind.

Let hope inspire you, but let not idealism blind you. Don't look back, you can never look back.

The issue in Web accessibility is the fact that blind and visually-impaired people need the single biggest boost to achieve equivalence, since the real-world Web is a visual medium.

At times one feels that what is being said in the West is that the fact that you are a Muslim predisposes you to this blind, stupid terrorism.

I generally wade in blind and trust to fate and instinct to see me through.

Will power is to the mind like a strong blind man who carries on his shoulders a lame man who can see.

I feel like a wet seed wild in the hot blind earth.

Be to their virtue very kind; be to their faults a little blind.

Bogart could have been color blind. He got to know a man before he decided if he liked him or not.

Well it has been very exciting and very changing as well. Celebrating the 40th year and having the album out and the Channel 4 documentary and I resigned from Blind Date.

About every two minutes a new wave of planes would be over. The motors seemed to grind rather than roar, and to have an angry pulsation like a bee buzzing in blind fury.

The Blind Boys are truly the deepest well of American musical heritage you can discover.

Let Justice, blind and halt and maimed, chastise the rebel spirit surging in my veins, let the Law deal me penalties and pains And make me hideous in my neighbours' eyes.