. . . David Ervine.
After turning his back on violence (he served time for possession of explosives) he played a key role in the Good Friday Agreement.
Apparently a man with a brilliant sense of humour, he learned enough Irish while at Long Kesh to confuse republican prisoners by shouting commands in Irish from the loyalist section of the prison.
After emerging as a voice representing working class Protestants in the North, he built links with the British Labour Party, addressing their 1994 annual conference with the words “I don’t want to wake up every morning and ask myself am I British or Irish? I want to think ‘Am I late for work?’.”
Almost as if playing one last joke on us all, his death was announced at the beginning of the RTE 9.00pm news on Sunday January 7th, only to be replaced some minutes later with the news that he was still with us!
David Ervine died on January 8th 2007 following a heart attack and a stroke the previous day. He was 53.
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