A priest widely recognised as one of the key figures in the Northern Ireland peace process has died.
Father Alec Reid, who was 82, acted as a broker between the IRA and the British Government.
He was famously photographed delivering the last rites to two soldiers killed by the IRA in west Belfast in 1988 after they accidentally drove into a Republican funeral.
He had tried to protect the two men, Corporals David Howes and Derek Wood, but was himself threatened with death if he did not get out of the way.
Fr Reid died peacefully The Redemptorist order of Catholic priests said Fr Reid died peacefully in a Dublin hospital on Friday morning.
"We extend our deepest sympathy to his family, friends and those who got to know him as a Redemptorist in the various roles and ministries he held," the order said.
"He will be especially remembered for his work in the Northern Ireland peace process."
The Redemptorists said arrangements for his funeral will be announced later.
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said Fr Reid's base in west Belfast during the Troubles, Clonard, was "the cradle of the peace process".
"I feel deeply saddened. I have not absorbed it yet. I knew him for the last 40 years," he said.
"What Alec Reid did was he lived the gospel message. He developed a view which was contrary to the official view, that there had to be dialogue, and he was tenacious - I remember quite a few times saying he was like a terrier."
Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers said: "We all owe a debt of gratitude to (Fr Reid) for the role he played in the peace and reconciliation process in Northern Ireland."
Warm tributes have also been paid by First Minister Peter Robinson and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
Mr Robinson said: "I was saddened to hear of the death of Fr Reid and I convey my sincere sympathies to his entire family and friends at this time.
"Alec opposed violence and understood that the key to making progress was through reaching out to others regardless of their background."
Mr McGuinness added: "Fr Reid was a man of great dignity and his service to society embodied decency and respect for everyone.
Gerry Adams: "Deeply saddened" by loss "He made an immeasurable contribution to the peace process and he has left a legacy of peace and hope for a better future for all."
Irish president Michael Higgins said: "Fr Reid's role as a channel for peace laid the ground for the achievement of the IRA cease-fire and created the political space for the multi-party talks that ultimately led to the Good Friday Agreement."
Fr Reid had a long association with Clonard Monastery on the Falls Road in Belfast, from where he forged a close relationship with Mr Adams.
He acted as a vital communications link between Mr Adams, then-Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader John Hume and the British and Irish Governments in the late 1980s and 1990s as peace talks developed in secret.
Years later, with paramilitary ceasefires delivered and the 1998 Good Friday peace accord signed, he was one of two churchmen who acted as independent witnesses to the decommissioning of the IRA's arsenal of weapons in 2005.
In recent years, he became involved in talks with Basque nationalists seeking independence from Spain.
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