Dermie McClenaghan: Tributes paid to Derry civil rights campaigner

Dermie McClenaghan was a "true socialist", says Foyle MP Colum Eastwood

Tributes have been paid to veteran civil rights campaigner Dermie McClenaghan, who has died after an illness.

Mr McClenaghan, who was in his early 80s, died in Londonderry on Thursday.

He was one of the organisers of the historic civil rights march in Derry on 5 October 1968.

His lifelong friend Eamonn McCann said Mr McClenaghan "was a constant presence" in the civil rights movement.

The 5 October 1968 march was organised because campaigners saw the unionist-controlled Londonderry Corporation's housing policy as discriminating against the nationalist and Catholic population.

That date is widely regarded as the day the Troubles in Northern Ireland began.

Mr McCann told BBC Radio Foyle that he and Mr McClenaghan had been friends for 60 years.

"It is a long time to be close friends with somebody, Dermie enveloped you in benignity," he said.

"People would say of him that there wasn't a bad bone in his body - that was absolutely the case."

The 5 October 1968 march in Derry was banned by the Northern Ireland government

The two had spent time together on Thursday afternoon, sharing a Christmas drink in a city centre pub.

"I said goodbye to him around half past six," said Mr McCann.

"I am pleased we met in that context and with friends around, that we had a hug, that we said goodbye before he died - that was a blessing."

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SDLP leader and Foyle MP Colum Eastwood described Mr McClenaghan as a "true socialist, rebel and probably the nicest person I have ever met".

He added: "He was there at the beginning. We'll miss him".

Mayor of Derry Sandra Duffy said: "Dermie had played a huge roles in the civil rights movement.

"He was an iconic figure in the north."