Tributes were paid today following the death of former Assembly member John Fee who has died of a brain tumour.
Mr Fee (43) was SDLP MLA for Newry and Armagh from 1998 until losing his seat in the 2003 election. He died at his Crossmaglen home last night after a short illness.
Mr Fee was a parliamentary assistant to Seamus Mallon MP for ten years before being elected as a councillor to Newry and Mourne Council in 1988 and then the Northern Ireland Assembly.
SDLP MLA Dominic Bradley said Mr Fee would be greatly missed.
"John was a very talented kind, generous and compassionate person, a man who represented this constituency with great dedication and diligence.
"He stood up strongly for peace during the darkest days of the political violence here.
He suffered a severe physical attack for expressing his views against violence but that did not deter him from speaking out against murder and mayhem and continuing to work for a peaceful solution to our problems." Mr Bradley said.
Sinn Fein Newry and Armagh MP Conor Murphy, Regional Development Minister in the Assembly, said he was saddened by MR Fee's death and offered his sympathy to his family.