Tributes have been paid to one of the founders of the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland, Prof Kevin Boyle, who died earlier this week.
Originally from Newry in Co Down, he helped set up the movement that sought to force peaceful change in the 1960s by pressing for an end to anti-Catholic discrimination in the region.
Labour Party president Michael D Higgins said his efforts, plus additional work in the field of human rights across Ireland and overseas, represented a major contribution.
“I heard with great sadness of the passing of Kevin Boyle whose courageous leadership in the human rights movement has placed so many in Ireland in his debt,” he said.
“Kevin Boyle was a champion of civil and human rights for more than 40 years. He was one of the inspirational figures behind the original civil rights movement which sought progress and democratic reform in Northern Ireland through peaceful means.”
“Those of us who knew him personally will feel the loss of a warm friend with a great sense of humour and enormous courage in bearing his illness.”
Prof Boyle studied at Queen’s University Belfast where he was involved in the People’s Democracy group and the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association.
He later served as founding director of the Irish centre for Human Rights at the National University of Ireland in Galway (NUIIG), and advised Mary Robinson when she was UN High Commission for Human Rights.
Prof Boyle was also a director of the Human Rights Centre in the University of Essex.
Dr Maurice Manning, president of the Irish Human Rights Commission, also paid tribute to Prof Boyle.
"Throughout his life, Kevin was a persuasive and tireless voice for human rights. From his work with the civil rights movement through to his engagement with a huge number of human rights cause of domestic and international concern, a common thread of a commitment to improving the lives of ordinary people is evident," he said.
"He has also left another impressive legacy through a strong body of academic work, by his pioneering role with NUIG’s Irish Centre for Human Rights and over more recent years at Essex University. Kevin’s quiet decency will be sorely missed," he added.
Additional reporting: PA