The funeral of senior republican Ted Howell, who died last week aged 78, will take place in Belfast on Tuesday.
A close ally and confidant of former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams, Mr Howell was a key backroom figure in peace process and the negotiations that led to the signing of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
The former West Belfast MP described his former comrade and late wife Eileen Duffy as “central figures in the Irish struggle”.
“During his many years of activism Ted played a leadership role in the evolution of republican politics,” Mr Adams said.
“He had a steadfast commitment to anti sectarianism and principled democratic republican values.”
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald described Mr Howell as a “patriot whose contribution to Irish republicanism will endure for generations to come”, while First Minister Michelle O’Neill said he was a “radical thinker and avowed internationalist”.
A former officer commanding of the IRA Belfast Brigade’s second battalion in the west of the city, Mr Howell latterly acted as Sinn Féin’s director of foreign affairs in North America and Europe.
He also played a central role in drafting two landmark Sinn Féin policy documents – ‘Scenario for Peace’ in 1987 and the ‘Towards a Lasting Peace in Ireland’ in 1992 – and was later involved in engagement with the Irish, British and US governments as part of the party’s negotiating team.
Mr Howell’s funeral service will take place at his late residence in the Suffolk area of west Belfast on Tuesday at 11am before his remains are taken to Milltown Cemetery for burial.
He is survived by his sons Proinnsias and Eamonn, daughter-in-laws Karen and Nora, and grandchildren Micéal, Caoimhe and Amelia.
