MURDERED Queen's University lecturer Edgar Graham is to be commemorated at an inaugural memorial seminar tonight.
Mr Graham (29), who was also an Ulster Unionist politician and regarded as a rising star in the party, was shot dead by an IRA gunman outside the university library on December 7, 1983.
As part of tonight's event, historian Lord Paul Bew, former SDLP MLA Alban Maginness, PSNI Assistant Chief Constable George Clarke and Ben Lowry, deputy editor of the News Letter, are taking part in a discussion about the criminal justice system.
The seminar, held at Riddel Hall at Queen’s University, has been organised by the South East Fermanagh Foundation.
Mr Graham's sister Anne said she was grateful that the seminar will highlight her brother's contribution to public life.
"Edgar has been described as an activist academic, seeking to bridge the gap between the universities and the community by direct involvement in democratic politics," she said.
"In October 1981 he was elected as a member of the then Northern Ireland Assembly for the constituency of South Belfast. He there displayed an impressive command of parliamentary procedure which few could match.
"Although primarily a constitutional lawyer promoting devolution he became known for his support for law and order, particularly supergrass trials and calls for an inquiry into the Kincora allegations.
"Above all, he was vehemently opposed to paramilitarism and spoke in public against both republican and loyalist paramilitaries."
