Martin McGuinness tells Gerry Moriarty, Northern Editor, of how some SDLP members 'walk past me in corridors in this building as if I didn't exist'
Martin McGuinness is sitting in his office in Parliament Buildings, Stormont, taking stock of six months of devolution, the anniversary of which falls today, praising the First Minister and criticising the SDLP and Ulster Unionist Party.
"I think I can say without fear of contradiction," he says, "that in the last six months Ian Paisley and I have not exchanged an angry word between us. That is the truth of the matter and I think the public will be pleased to hear that.
"But there are individual members of the SDLP who walk past me in corridors in this building as if I didn't exist," laments the Deputy First Minister.
Mr McGuinness in his interview with The Irish Timesfocuses on his good relationship with the Rev Ian Paisley, and how the powersharing government has worked surprisingly - perhaps amazingly - well so far. But he is also keen to make his feelings known about the SDLP and the Ulster Unionist Party, accusing them of "being in denial" about how the DUP and Sinn Féin have usurped them as the lead parties.
"I think I have a far better working relationship with Ian Paisley than Mark Durkan or Séamus Mallon ever had with David Trimble. I think that grates on them, it hurts them that the DUP and Sinn Féin have managed not just to get this government up but run it properly in a fashion that can deliver for the people."
He was conscious that there were some in the SDLP and UUP who favoured walking out of the Executive to establish a formal opposition in the Assembly, although that is clearly not the position of Mr Durkan - nor does UUP leader Sir Reg Empey seem enamoured of the prospect. "I think that anybody walking away from this Executive is walking to oblivion," he says.
He takes a dig too at the current talks on whether the SDLP should merge with Fianna Fáil. He says Mr Durkan is in a "quandary" over the issue and wonders is the SDLP leader "presiding over the demise of the SDLP or a transformation of the SDLP into a wing of Fianna Fáil in the North".
Mr McGuinness and Dr Paisley travel to the US early next month to meet President George Bush, and to make a push for the major investment conference in Belfast next May. Their relaxed, united approach, it is hoped, will yield dividends. Some have dubbed them the "Chuckle Brothers" because of the bright, beaming way they often do business together. That doesn't bother either of them. Mr McGuinness takes time to explain their relationship, at the same time illustrating that he may be as surprised as the rest of us that it is going so well.
"I have always believed throughout the course of my political life that Ian Paisley was a very bitter, very harsh person who was only really interested in his political opinion holding sway. Obviously he had as poor an opinion of me as me of him," he says.
"There is a transformed political situation and he and I are now working together. In that situation opinions change. I certainly don't see the harsh, bitter Ian Paisley that I saw prior to March 26th this year. I see someone who is civilised and cordial in his dealings with me whilst maintaining his own political position.
"I know where he is coming from and he knows where I am coming from: his allegiance is to what he describes as the United Kingdom; my allegiance is to Ireland. But we have joined together in government and thus far it is clear that both of us are very dedicated and committed to making this work, and fulfilling the desires and wishes of the electorate." He concedes that with the rest of the Executive there have been difficulties and tensions over issues such as the Irish language, what Ministers get what in the draft budget, the proposed devolution of policing and justice powers, the UDA, the delayed appointment of a victims' commissioner, and the murder in south Armagh of Paul Quinn. He says he believes "that the DUP knew from the very beginning that there was no IRA involvement" in the murder.
"There will be difficulties. We don't live in utopia," says Mr McGuinness, but he is confident about the future of the new dispensation. "If we fail the test then we fail everybody, and I don't intend to be part of any operation that fails the electorate, the people who voted to make this possible, and I don't believe Ian Paisley is of that mindset either."