As anyone who has tinnitus knows, it's not something that you can ignore, and you have to deal with it on a daily basis.
I am very proud I was part of the IRA in Derry and involved in repelling the designs of the British state forces against people who were being treated as second- and third-class citizens.
Let me put it like this: I am not prepared to officiate over on behalf of the British government what I think is a disastrous strategy which will impact on some of the most vulnerable and poorest people within our society.
When I went to the all-Ireland final - Kerry against Dublin - I couldn't get away for an hour and a half with people coming up and wishing me all the best. Not one of them said, 'Martin, when did you leave the IRA?' But every one of them knew I was in the IRA at one stage.
I am opposed to abortion on demand, and I am opposed to the 1967 Act in Britain being transferred to the north.
World War One is an important part of Ireland's multi-layered history during which tens of thousands Irish people lost their lives.
If there is a vote in Britain to leave the E.U. there is a democratic imperative to provide Irish citizens with the right to vote in a border poll to end partition and retain a role in the E.U.
As a lad growing up in the Fifties and Sixties, I played both Gaelic football and soccer and loved them both.
We all have a responsibility to advance the process of reconciliation, and as a political leader, I am committed to leading from the front and to continue to take bold and significant steps.
In my view, a united Ireland is inevitable, and it is certainly more likely than a voluntary coalition which doesn't include Sinn Fein.
The engagements I had with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles were about reaching out and showing respect to the unionist people. I also recognised that when someone like her makes acts of reconciliation as she did do at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin, she is 100% behind the peace process.
While others have walked away from their responsibilities, the Sinn Fein team will work with the other ministers in partnership to deliver for all the people.
I remember vividly as a 15-year-old, in 1964, seeing Derry play Glentoran in the Irish Cup Final at Windsor Park in Belfast. Glentoran were one of the two big Belfast teams, along with Linfield. Any rural team playing them was up against the odds.
If Britain votes to leave the European Union, then that could have huge implications for the entire island of Ireland and, given all the predictions, would run counter to the democratic wishes of the Irish people.