SDLP Leader Claire Hanna MP pays tribute to 'towering figure in Fermanagh' former SDLP MLA Tommy Gallagher
SDLP Leader Claire Hanna MP has paid tribute to "a towering figure in Fermanagh”, former SDLP MLA Tommy Gallagher, following his passing.
Mr Gallagher served as MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone between 1998 and 2011 and was also a local councillor.
Ms Hanna MP said: “Tommy Gallagher was a towering figure in Fermanagh and a constant force for good in his native Belleek. He leaves behind a lasting legacy not only in politics, but as a teacher, a GAA player and coach and someone who always worked for the betterment of his local community.
“His loss will be felt far across the political spectrum, such is the esteem he was held in by colleagues from all parties. He will also be warmly remembered for the difference he made to the lives of the young people he taught and those he coached and played alongside over many years.
“Tommy got involved in the SDLP and politics at a very difficult time and he was rightly proud of the role he played as part of the SDLP team leading up to the Good Friday Agreement.
"He did his part to deliver peace on this island and build a better future for our young people. On behalf of the SDLP I’d like to extend my deepest sympathies to his wife Eileen, their children and the entire family circle.”
Mr Gallagher was born in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal in 1942.
He was married with two sons and one daughter and was educated at St Malachy's College Belfast, St Joseph's College and Queen's University Belfast.
A former teacher and Deputy Head of St Mary's High School in Belleek he also served on Fermanagh District Council and the Western Education and Library Board.
A former footballer and hurler with Fermanagh GAA, his interests included Gaelic games, basketball, and horse racing.
According to www.irishlifeandlore.com his family began farming in Keenaghan, Enniskillen in 1945.
Tommy qualified as a teacher in 1965 and was introduced to political life by Tom Daly, brother of Bishop Edward Daly, and was involved in setting up the SDLP in Co Fermanagh.
In 1973, he entered public life and in 1991 was elected Councillor for Fermanagh.
He was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996 and as an MLA in 1998, a position he held until 2011 when he lost his seat to Sinn Fein.
Tommy was involved in the early talks leading to the Good Friday Agreement, and was always a firm supporter of John Hume and Seamus Mallon.
He previously described the violence which came to his door in the 1970s, when a timed device which had been placed in a culvert exploded 40 yards from his family home, causing injury to the driver of an army vehicle and damaging his home extensively.
The blast narrowly missed his two children, who had just moments earlier been playing in the front garden, and also missed his brother Raymond.
He spoke in the past about acts of violence and terrorism in Belleek and the traumatic effect on the local population.
A keen GAA player, he disapproved of the use of the local GAA grounds for commemorations by Sinn Féin.
In 2007 he was involved in removing a monument erected by the IRA five years previously in memory of three IRA members who had been shot during the Troubles.
The monument was situated just twelve feet from where William Hassard and Fred Love had been shot by the IRA in August 1988.
The two civilians were slain in a gun attack by the IRA as they travelled home after doing some maintenance work on an RUC base.
Tommy previously recounted the Protestant families who had to leave the Garrison area due to intimidation in the early 1970s and also recounted the IRA shooting of part time UDR member Johnny Fletcher in March 1972 in the area.