'A husband, father, brother, friend and comrade' - tributes paid to Derry man Billy Friel
The Sinn Fein Foyle MLA Raymond McCartney described Mr Friel as 'good-hearted, generous, hard working, dependable'.
"My immediate thoughts were of his wife Ann, their son and daughters, Billy’s brothers and sisters, the Friel and Barr family circles.
"I have known Billy Friel, since our primary school days in the Long Tower. In all the years since I don’t think that I have ever heard anyone utter a bad word about him.
"Good-hearted, generous, hard working, dependable, determined are words that sit easy when people spoke of him.
"His devotion to his family was obvious, and whatever life’s challenges threw their way, it was faced up to and dealt with in the spirit of love that filled their lives.
"That loss will be the greatest to be faced in the time ahead."
He added: "His friends, work colleagues and comrades will reflect, each in their own way on Billy and their memories of him.
"Billy, like many others, knew of personal pain, through the loss of his sister Bernadette and the wounding of his brother, Joe on Bloody Sunday.
"As a Volunteer, as a political prisoner, the H Block/Armagh prison struggle to crush criminalisation, years spent on the blanket protest, Billy was no stranger to hardship, physical attack, endurance and deprivation.
"Although small in stature, he was big of heart and full of resolve."