Funeral of former SDLP MP Eddie McGrady to take place
The funeral is due to take place later of former SDLP MP Eddie McGrady.
Eddie McGrady was a founding member of the SDLP
Mr McGrady, 78, died on Monday after a long illness. A founding member of the SDLP, he was South Down MP from 1987 until his retirement three years ago.
Requiem Mass will be held at St Patrick's Church in Downpatrick.
Tributes to Mr McGrady were led by SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell, who said his politics "were the politics of fair play, of social justice, reconciliation and general decency".
One of 11 children, Mr McGrady was born in Market Street in Downpatrick, County Down, where his father ran a clothing shop.
A former chartered accountant, he sat on Downpatrick Urban Council in the 1960s and early 1970s, and then on Down District Council until 1989.
He was also a member of the Northern Ireland assemblies in existence in the 1970s and 1980s, and a member of the current assembly between 1998 and 2003.
Mr McGrady gained national prominence on election night in 1987, when - at his fourth attempt - he defeated Enoch Powell, who had been Ulster Unionist MP for South Down since 1974.
As an MP he was known as an opponent of the Sellafield nuclear plant and a defender of the Downe Hospital.
Mr McGrady's wife of more than 20 years, Patricia, passed away in 2003. They are survived by their three children - Paula, Jerry and Conaill.
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