Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to pay tribute to Austin Currie, former Deputy and Minister of State, who sadly passed away yesterday. He was born in Dungannon in 1939 and educated in Queen's University Belfast. He was a leading light of the civil rights movement. He was one of the founders of the Social and Democratic Labour Party, SDLP, alongside the late John Hume. He was a dedicated and committed politician who made an important contribution to the lives of many throughout the island, North and South. He served as a Minister of State at the Departments of Education, Justice and Health during the 1990s. I send my sincere sympathies, along with those of all Senators, to his wife, Annita, and his children, especially our colleague, Senator Emer Currie. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.