Former British prime minister Sir Edward Heath died last night at his home in Salisbury. Frank Millar, London Editor, reports.
The elder statesman had been able to host a party last week in celebration of his 89th birthday, but his spokesman said he had "recently become considerably weaker".
Sir Edward's greatest achievement was to lead the UK into membership of the European Economic Community (EEC). Taoiseach Bertie Ahern led Irish tributes to Mr Heath noting "his lifelong advocacy of the European project".
He was also considered the architect of the 1974 Sunningdale Agreement, which he regarded as the precursor to and template for the 1998 Belfast Agreement. He was prime minister at the time of Bloody Sunday in 1972 when 13 civilians were killed by British soldiers during a march in Derry.
He was also celebrated for "the longest sulk in politics" and his very public refusal to forgive Margaret Thatcher for ousting him from the Conservative leadership in 1975.
As leader of the opposition in 1968 Mr Heath sacked Enoch Powell from the shadow cabinet following his notorious "rivers of blood" speech on immigration. And the former grammar school boy confounded the pundits, winning a 30-seat majority over Harold Wilson's Labour Party in 1970.
However, he was forced to quit No 10 after a period of industrial strife prompted him to call what he believed would be a second winning election on the question of "Who governs Britain?"
The result was a hung parliament, after which he unsuccessfully attempted to persuade Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe to do a deal to keep him in power. The second election in 1974 saw Wilson returned with a tiny majority, setting in train the "Heath must go" demand which led to the Thatcher ascendancy. Sir Edward - who refused to serve in her cabinets and frequently savaged her policies - became "Father" of the House of Commons in 1992, and declined to serve in the House of Lords after retirement in 2001.
Prime minister Tony Blair described him as "a man of great integrity and beliefs he held strongly from which he never wavered".