Mags GarganBishop Treanor praised Eddie McGrady for “tireless” work for community
The Bishop of Down & Connor joined public representatives from Stormont, Dublin and London who paid tribute to Eddie McGrady, one of the founding members of the SDLP, who died last week after a long illness.
Mr McGrady (78) was a member of the power-sharing executive of 1974 and the post-Good Friday Agreement Assembly. For 23 years, he was MP for South Down and he played an important role in the negotiations leading to the Agreement of 1998.
Bishop Noel Treanor praised Mr McGrady for “his tireless capacity to reach out across his South Down constituency to all those in need”. “Motivated by faith, strengthened by the values of integrity, courage and justice and astutely attentive to social and community concerns, he was a popular politician who engaged effectively with those he met in his public office,” he said.
An estimated 1,200 packed St Patrick’s church in Downpatrick for the funeral celebrated by his nephew Fr Feargal McGrady.