I was saddened to learn that Eddie McGrady had died after a long illness.
Throughout his political life he worked tirelessly not only for his constituents in South Down but for the whole community in Northern Ireland. As a founding member of the SDLP, he was a staunch advocate of constitutional politics and was an instrumental figure in the negotiations that ultimately led to the Belfast Agreement in 1998. He reflected that the Agreement was one of the high points of his time in politics.
He was widely regarded as a man of real decency and commitment to the public good, and he will be sadly missed across the political spectrum, although of course in particular by his colleagues in the SDLP.
I send my sincere sympathy to his three children and wider family circle.’