Now our job is making the peace permanent

The General Election taking place in the North of Ireland is a very different one from that taking place across the water in Scotland, Wales and England.

They may be elections to the Westminster Parliament, but there the similarity ends.

Some lament this. But attempts to graft the party politics of the other island onto this one have always proved futile.

Whatever our different political persuasions on this side of the water, we have our own distinct histories and traditions and share a political and economic reality on this small island.

A Belfast republican from a Protestant background once wrote that "even the Orangemen, in the very nature of their dispute with fellow Irishmen, are talking politics which are Irish politics alone, and of no consequence and of very little interest, to any other nation". This election is about the future of politics in this part of Ireland, not post-election machinations at Westminster.

The constitutional question will be to the fore, because it continues to be the main fault-line in our politics here. Reality dictates that that will continue as long as Ireland remains partitioned.

Since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, we have a means of recognising our constitutional differences and maintaining our respective positions on the issue of partition and Irish unity, while working together for the common good.

Sinn Fein is proud to be an Irish republican party and we want to see the people of Ireland and the island of Ireland united, a goal we pursue by peaceful and democratic means.

The peace process defined the politics of a generation in the 1990s and into the 21st century. We now have a maturing political process as well, with all the main nationalist and unionist political parties serving in a power-sharing administration based on the principles of parity of esteem enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement.

It was extremely difficult to achieve this political process. Resistance was encountered all along the way.

There are still some, on the fringes of unionism and nationalism, who wish to turn the clock back, but they have nothing to offer only division and conflict.

As a republican party, Sinn Fein repudiates, in particular, those who carry out armed actions in the name of republicanism, in breach of the peace that genuine republicans have worked so hard to achieve.

Since the last Westminster election, Sinn Fein has led developments from the agreement between myself and Ian Paisley to the recent Hillsborough agreement. We are looking for an endorsement for this work and a new mandate for the next five years to continue it.

Sinn Fein is about developing the political process and helping to ensure that it delivers for the people of the North of Ireland and for Ireland as a whole.

That task cannot be carried out at Westminster, where the few MPs elected in Ireland are lost in the fog of British politics. It is here in Ireland that political leaders are needed and this election is, in a special sense, about leadership.

The experienced political leadership provided by Sinn Fein is unmatched by any of the other parties and has been tested through years of political struggle, through successful negotiations, through work in the political institutions and through providing a positive way forward for this country and its people.

Sinn Fein leadership has a breadth and a depth to it. It is representative and is based on conviction rather than careerism, on hard work rather than soft talk.

We stand for people's rights - to a job, to fair access to education, to decent healthcare and housing. Our success will be measured to the extent that we help people to gain those rights.

We have had the courage of our convictions in reforming education, despite all the obstacles put up against fairness for children and an end to regressive academic selection.

The aim is to ensure that every school is a good school and every child has equality of opportunity, an aim we are determined to achieve.

We are heartened by the support for that goal across all communities, not least among working-class unionist communities, who have been so badly served by education structures in the past.

I have been heartened also by the extent to which old political barriers are breaking down. I don't want to negotiate this, but Sinn Fein's dialogue with all sectors of unionism is a hugely positive development that has blossomed in recent years.

Our commitment as elected representatives is to serve all of the people of our constituencies, regardless of political or religious persuasion. And that is being increasingly recognised by people from unionist communities who avail of our highly regarded constituency services.

As people of the island of Ireland, we have huge challenges ahead of us as we seek to rebuild a shattered economy. I believe such a reconstruction is possible if the foundation stones are the republican values of fairness and equality.

The equality ethos of Irish republicanism traces its roots to the radical dissenting tradition of Belfast and the North East, as well as to the democratic traditions of progressive people across the world.

Our vision is of an Ireland at peace with itself and a promoter of peace and justice in this troubled world. Our vision is of a successful island economy, a fair and just society where our people are united in shared prosperity.

Join us in taking another step closer to the realisation of that vision by voting Sinn Fein on May 6.