Niall Ó Murchú was a Gael from Ardoyne in north Belfast who immersed himself throughout his life in Gaelic language, culture and sports. He loved his country and its people.
At the heart of this community, for him and his family, was Ciceam Ard Eoin (Ardoyne Kickhams GAC), although his spoken Gaeilge had a distinct Donegal twang, as the Murphys have long had roots in that county.
Family to Niall was everything.
He followed different career paths including law and teaching, although he was rarely happier than when he had tools in his hands plumbing, building or stripping an engine.
Niall found a job he loved teaching in St Colm’s High School in west Belfast, and at night taught Irish to learners of all ages in Gaelscoil Éanna, Glengormley.
History, politics and people remained his other great passions.
These drove his community and charity work and are the foundations of the work we do at Paper Trail.
Our mission is to discover and collate historical, conflict-related information which is buried in official archives. We aim to ensure it reaches the families who need it most.
When we founded the charity just over 10 years ago, Niall guaranteed that its ethos applied to every section of the community, regardless of their background or creed. He ensured our doors were open to any victims and survivors who needed support.
He had the gift of the gab, with a wicked streak of humour, and loved helping people in whatever way he could.
As well as being the chair of Paper Trail since its foundation, he gave up many days a year as a volunteer to support its charitable work.
This included helping to organise protests, speaking at events across Ireland, and retrieving thousands of files of information from archives in Britain.
He also volunteered on the Victims Forum for many years, where he fought for the rights of victims and their families.
Niall was only four weeks old when his teenage uncle, Ciarán, was murdered by British extremists but he believed that truth and justice belonged to all victims and survivors equally.
He will be sorely missed by many campaigning families, but especially the families of the McGurk’s Bar massacre, as Niall devoted every waking minute to supporting our fight for truth and justice.
Many will remember him in the thick of every protest or up a ladder repainting our mural.
Over the last two decades, he did even more than people realise, offering private support to family members.
Arguably his crowning glory with our families was helping to secure new inquests for those murdered in the McGurk’s Bar massacre just before he was diagnosed with cancer this year.
He met that battle as he did his activism – head-on, fearless.
Niall was only 50 years of age when he died this week and had so much more life to live.
He leaves behind four sons, his partner, Rosie, and a loving family.
Ciarán Mac Airt