This afternoon.
Seamus Mallon, former SDLP deputy leader and one of the architects of the Good Friday Agreement, has died.
RIP.
Seamus Mallon, former deputy leader of the SDLP, dies (BBC)
Seamus Mallon was an Irish Patriot. He lived for our country and has left an indelible mark on the lives of everyone who enjoys the peace he helped forge.
I’m proud to have called him a friend. My prayers are with Orla, Mark and Lara. https://t.co/aU9mJRJwB6 pic.twitter.com/QO7Dy3Fi9S
— Colum Eastwood (@columeastwood) January 24, 2020
“Seamus Mallon was a force of nature.
In the darkest days of conflict, when hope was in short supply, Seamus represented the fierce thirst for justice that ran through the SDLP and through communities that had lost so much to political violence.
His passion for peace underpinned by truth, justice and reconciliation came from a lifetime as a proud son of Markethill where he was born, grew up and raised his own family.
It didn’t matter who you were, where you worshiped or what your politics were, there was always help to be found at Seamus’ hearth.”
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood
SDLP Leader pays tribute to the life and legacy of Seamus Mallon (SDLP)
Where is this ‘architect of the Good Friday Agreement’ coming from? He fought against Hume and Adams every inch of the way. He opposed the GFA until it was voted on.
…a desperately bitter man…hated the shinners had eaten his breakfast…the last of the old green tories…
IIRC he was concerned that a 51%- 49% vote on a border poll with the nationalist side winning would be very destabilising and could lead to more violence.
…50% + 1…
Still, let’s not get blinded by the outrageous hypocrisy of what you say, Adams spent his days at the top of an organisation that killed thousands of innocents, Seamus didn’t, the people who lived in the north would certainly see Seamus as a man for peace moreso than Adams. There was no blood on the hands of Seamus. He was respected.
Rest in peace.
As a human being, family member, with friends – RIP and condolences.
Politically – he should have been decommissioned long before his bitterness soured his legacy. He was no GFA architect.
But then, neither was Colum Eastwood.
Sunningdale for slow learners..