North ceasefire broker dies
A Presbyterian minister who helped broker the 1994 loyalist ceasefire in the North has died, it was revealed today.
The Rev Roy Magee, 79, was central to efforts to persuade gunmen to lay down their arms but died after battling Parkinson’s disease for many years, a colleague said.
Originally from north Belfast, he mediated talks between loyalists and the government which paved the way for the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
Fellow Presbyterian minister the Rev John Dunlop paid tribute.
“He took the initiative which he didn’t need to take to get involved in dialogue with loyalist paramilitary leaders in order to influence them and try to persuade them to move away from the activities in which they were involved,” he said.
“It was also dangerous because he was dealing with a number of extremely dangerous people and yet he was prepared to be taken to places in order to engage in dialogue where he was not sure where it was going or who he was going to be going with and this was extremely courageous.”
Mr Magee spent much of his life as a minister in Dundonald, east Belfast, having worked in churches in some of the most hard-bitten areas of the city.
He held meetings with the Ulster Defence Association and Ulster Volunteer Force and was awarded an OBE for his work.
