MR Harry Diamond, a Stormont MP for the Lower Falls, Belfast, for 23 years, has died aged 87. He stood under various labels in hiss political career, including Eire Labour, Socialist Republican and Republican Labour.
He was a controversial character during his early years but became more moderate in later life. He entered the public arena as a nationalist member of the Poor Law Board in 1929.
He was also a member of the Belfast Board of Guardians and once threw a floor mat at its chairman during an argument. In the 1930s, he spent two months in Crumlin Road jail after being arrested when police broke up a protest against the detention without trial of 100 young republicans.
A shoemaker by trade, Mr Diamond went to England in 1937, where he stayed for six years working as a fitter. He also became involved in trade union activities.
He returned to the North to form the Republican Labour Party and was elected to Stormont in 1946. He lost his seat to Mr Paddy Devlia in 1969.
As a former Home Rule campaigner, Mr Diamond was the last link with the generation of Joe Devlin and the old Home Rule Party in Belfast. He retired to Glenariff on the Antrim coast. He is survived by his second wife, Amy, whom he married four years ago.
Historian Dr Eamon Phoenix said Mr Diamond was the voice of Belfast's working class Catholics in an often hostile Stormont Parliament. "He has a much deserved reputation as an outspoken critic of the regime. He was a very charming man and a great raconteur. He read history books right up to his death. He always kept abreast of political issues.