NI peacemaker minister Magee dies

[OMEN]

Reverend Roy Magee, who helped broker the loyalist ceasefires in the 1990s, has died.

He was 79 years old and had been suffering from Parkinson's disease.

The Presbyterian minister, originally from north Belfast, was an influential figure in the talks between loyalist paramilitaries and the government.

The 1994 ceasefire was crucial in paving the way for the peace process and the signing of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

Born the son of a fitter in 1930, Mr Magee was brought up in the Ballysillan estate in north Belfast.

He worked in churches in some of the toughest areas of Belfast, before settling in the Dundonald parish near Belfast in 1975.

Mr Magee traced his history of mediating for and between the loyalist paramilitaries to his ministry at Sinclair Seamen's Presbyterian Church in the Docks area of Belfast during the start of the Troubles in 1969.

His influential meetings with the Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Defence Association/Ulster Freedom Fighters were not made public until nearly two years before their October 1994 ceasefires.

In an interview he said: "As a minister of the gospel I see myself as a spiritual policeman, encouraging people to live in accordance with the Law of God."

He added: "What I do is nothing more and nothing less than an extension of my pastoral work."

In 2004, he was awarded an OBE in recognition of his work.

BBC

[JohnCenaFan28]

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