He's a poet, a fisherman, a chess-player, a family man described as considerate and thoughtful, somebody who cares about nature and the environment, passionate yet even-tempered.

He enthuses about nature, especially the rugged heaths of Donegal: "Purple-heathered hillsides clothe the peaty bogs, leaching streams of water, swimming pools for frogs." He's good at relationships and a conspicuous success at most things.

But no, this is not some dreamy, liberal luvvy: this is Martin McGuinness, icon of republican militancy. That poem, which is being auctioned this weekend in south Armagh, is dedicated to a republican who was shot dead. From Tuesday, McGuinness will be running Northern Ireland together with the Rev Ian Paisley. Unlikely is far too mild a word to describe this emerging partnership between two lifelong adversaries, the dedicated republican and the staunch loyalist.