Paddy 'UNREPENTANT' McGuinness

Not only did he predict the government would lose office because of it, he said they deserved this. And yet, he supported the deregulation of markets, and that included the labour market.

I spoke to him briefly that evening; he addressed me, as he often did, as “Comrade”. He once publicly “outed” me - as a member of the Sydney High Marxist cell.

I knew he was ill; his unexplained absences indicated that. But he would hear no expressions of concern or sympathy. As in those distant school days, there was a veil beyond which you did not go.

Paddy was a remarkable and extraordinarily positive influence in the life of this nation. He was courageous in his search for, and announcing, the truth as he saw it, along with any dissent, in the market place of ideas.

I hope that he has found the ultimate truth.