already online ... Widow leads tributes to former PUP leader

The 10th anniversary of the death of Mr Ervine was marked in a ceremony at his memorial in east Belfast on Saturday.

A piper played as a wreath was laid at the Albertbridge Road mural dedicated to the late MLA, who was instrumental in bringing about the loyalist ceasefire in 1994.

Speaking to ITV at the memorial event, Mr Ervine’s widow, Jeanette Ervine, said: “I just miss him so much in my life as people here do, because David was positive and would have always drawn something positive out of the negative, and I think he’s just very much missed in political circles.

“Many people were still in that mind-set of war, he talked to them extensively. There are some you will never change their mind and they will always have that attitude but in the majority, he made things different and I’m proud of him for that.”

PUP deputy leader Councillor John Kyle described Mr Ervine as “a passionate politician who really cared for the people”.

He added: “He was a very honest man, sometimes uncomfortably honest, and I think sometimes that contrasts with what we’re living with today.

“He wasn’t a complainer, he was continually looking to work with people, to reach out to people to find solutions that improved a lot for the common man.”