Brian Black was a one-off, environmental champion and great story teller: Mike Nesbitt

Mr Nesbitt, a Strangford MLA who became a politician a few years after leaving a role on UTV as a presenter, was speaking after Mr Black died when his car plunged into the water at Strangford harbour on Tuesday morning.

Mr Black, who worked briefly for the Irish broadcaster RTE before moving to UTV, was best known for his reporting on environmental issues over a TV career spanning decades.

Friends of the Earth and Ulster Wildlife are among a host of organisations to have paid tribute to the well-known journalist since his passing.

Friends of the Earth’s Northern Ireland director James Orr described Mr Black as a “canary in the mine” for bringing the climate crisis to the public’s attention at an early stage.

Speaking to the News Letter yesterday, Mr Nesbitt said: “Brian was a bit of a one-off in that he wasn’t there because he loved the media, he wasn’t a media ‘luvvie’. He was there because he loved the environment and UTV gave him a platform like no other to expose his hopes and his concerns and his fears for the environment.

“While the rest of us might have been turning up for a morning meeting in a suit, Brian was always dressed like he was ready to go out in the wild or out in his boat, which he often did and in some cases up towards the North Pole.”

The former UUP leader added: “He was also an incredibly nice guy.

“He kind of ploughed his own furrow. He had his own ideas and he would come in and say ‘this is what I want to do’. Then he would go off and he would do it.

“He was also a great story teller. He understood that if you’re going to hold an audience on UTV you’ve got to tell a story that both entertains and educates and he did.”

The Strangford MLA praised his former colleague’s prescience on the importance of environmental issues, saying: “In an age where global warming and climate crisis are kind of buzzwords, Brian was there 20 or 25 years ago.

“I know there were people within UTV when Brian would come in and make his remarks who would say ‘oh, look, there’s Brian off on one again’. But actually, when you watched the report that followed from that you ended up thinking ‘the guy has something here’.

“It was always worth watching, it was always worth thinking about.”

He added: “He loved Strangford, and he loved Strangford Lough.”

Mr Orr described Mr Black as an “Arctic explorer, an insightful journalist, a friend to nature and myself”. He added: “Brian was a canary in the mine, calling out the climate and biodiversity crises long before it was convenient.”

Ulster Wildlife paid tribute to his “insight, passion, and devotion to wildlife”.

Mr Black is survived by his two children Kieron and Sarah, son-in-law Colin, daughter-in-law Yulia, granddaughter Penelope and wider family circle.