The Workers' Party has described Mr Cathal Goulding, who died on Saturday, as "the leading republican of his generation who led the IRA away from military campaigns and into socialist politics."
A former chief-of-staff of the IRA, Mr Goulding's death follows a long illness. He was the key figure in leading his branch of the republican movement towards socialist political agitation and away from what he saw as narrow nationalist militarism. He led the transformation of what was known as the Official republican movement into Sinn Fein the Workers' Party and then the Workers' Party.
Mr Goulding, who would have been 77 next Saturday, is survived by four sons - Cathal Og, Paudge, Aodhgan and Banban - and by his wife, Patty, whom he married in 1950, and Dr Moira Woods and her family, with whom he lived for 20 years.
His longtime associate and current national treasurer of the Workers' Party, Mr Sean Garland, said Mr Goulding was among that rare breed "prepared to give of their all" so that future generations could enjoy a better life. "He was from a staunchly working-class Dublin family steeped in the tradition of revolutionary struggle and was a totally reliable and utterly incorruptible comrade. An internationalist from his youth, Cathal always recognised the international dimension to the struggle for socialism.
"Wolfe Tone and James Connolly were the two guiding figures in Irish history who inspired Cathal Goulding and whose political philosophy he held as his sheet anchor. I have no doubt that future generations will recognise Cathal Goulding's massive contribution to genuine republicanism and socialism."
A spokesman for Democratic Left, which was formed following a split in the Workers' Party in 1992, also paid tribute to Mr Goulding. "Although we had differed in recent years, Cathal Goulding was widely admired and respected within Democratic Left," the spokesman said.
"He is entitled to enormous credit for the central role he played in refocusing the republican movement during the 1960s, moving it away from a preoccupation with the use of violence in pursuit of a solution to the Northern problem and steering it in a democratic direction to involvement in a range of social an economic issues.
"Had more people followed his example and his leadership much of the dreadful violence of the past 30 years might have been avoided," he said.
The funeral takes place in Dublin on Thursday.