LEADING civil rights campaigner Sean Morrissey had died, aged 94.
The Belfast trade unionist and civil rights activist passed away in Antrim on January 3.
Mr Morrissey was an executive member of the Communist Party of Northern Ireland.
In a statement on the Communist Party of Ireland website, the organisation said he would be remembered "for the stalwart and warm person that he was".
It also said "in his memory we will carry on the struggle for a better world".
Mr Morrissey, grandfather of acclaimed poet Sinéad Morrissey who was Belfast's first poet laureate as well as winner of the prestigious TS Eliot, was regarded as one of the north's leading trade unionists. Her father Michael was also a committed communist.
As an executive member of the Communist Party in Northern Ireland Mr Morrissey was invited to the Soviet Union by the Kremlin for a four week holiday in 1974 and again in the 1980s.
The poet undertook a three week visit to Russia in 2014 to retrace the footsteps of her relatives, particularly her grandfather. Russian imagery is a feature in the poet's work.
At home Mr Morrissey was heavily involved in the Turf Lodge Residents' Association in west Belfast, holding the post of chairman during the 1970s.
As a trade unionists he was also involved in the Ulster Workers Council strike in 1974 and held the post of education officer for the Transport and General Workers Union, campaigning for workers' rights.
The statement from the Communist Party of Ireland said: "It is with great sadness that the Communist Party of Ireland announces the death of our comrade Sean Morrissey, who died early in January 2016.
"He was a former member of the national executive committee of the CPI, an officer in the ATGWU, a community and tenants' leader and a civil rights activist.
"We will remember him for the stalwart and warm person that he was, and in his memory we will carry on the struggle for a better world."
