Former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams delivered a graveside oration for life-long friend Ted Howell describing how his “life was full and he loved life”.
Paying tribute to the veteran republican at Milltown Cemetery on Tuesday, Mr Adams said “those of us who worked with him for decades value his friendship. And his mischief making”.
Speaking of their time working together, Mr Adams described the 1980s as being a “decade of significant change for Sinn Féin...building a peace strategy”, talks with then SDLP leader John Hume and moving into the 1990s when multi-party talks resulted in the signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
“Ted was central to all of these developments,” he said.
“Ted was at the heart of it all. Ted was the anchor for this work. He provided cohesion, accountability, good practice, oversight and the tracking of issues.
“Ted had great politics. He had an abiding commitment to sovereignty and independence, to equality, to fairness, and to an Ireland free of the scourge of sectarianism.
“An Ireland where all of the Irish people, including our unionist/protestant neighbours, can enjoy their full democratic rights as free citizens in a free Ireland.
“Ted understood strategy and the need for the national question to be constantly at the centre of Sinn Féin strategy.
“He believed in the importance of Sinn Féin building political strength and of using that political strength to bring about constitutional change.
“He believed in creating alliances with others as part of the process of change leading to Irish unity.”
Mr Adams added that they all had “a story or stories about Ted...stories about his humour, his generosity, his loyalty, his lifetime commitment to Republicanism”.
“Those of us who worked with him for decades value his friendship. And his mischief making. His craic and insights into the human condition,” he said.
“Ted’s life was full and he loved life.
“Ted’s gift to the next generation is that he helped to create a peaceful way to end the union with Britain and to unite the people of our island, free of English rule.
“So Ted is that rare thing.
“A successful Irish revolutionary. Struggle is a continuum and Ted’s contribution has set us up for the next phase.”
