Ivan Cooper, who has died at the age of 75, was one of the great champions of the civil rights movement and displayed enormous personal courage throughout his time in public life.
He came from a working class unionist background before embracing constitutional nationalism and as a founder member of the SDLP playing a key role in the search for peace and progress.
Mr Cooper was completely determined to achieve justice and equality for all sections of our divided society and it was entirely appropriate that president Michael D Higgins described him yesterday as a `beacon of hope’ during a period of huge upheaval and danger.
