SENIOR BBC journalists have led tributes following the death of respected one-time editor Eileen Fitt, daughter of political leader Gerry Fitt.
The family of Ms Fitt said they were "devastated" following her death but comforted by the "kind words" from well known broadcasters including John Simpson and Jeremy Bowen.
Ms Fitt, who left Belfast at a relatively young age after her father was driven out of the north following a series of attacks and murder bids, worked for the BBC for many years.
She was a producer on Newsnight and later the editor of the news at nine and then ten. Her husband Paul Gibbs, also a senior television executive, died in 2014.
One of five girls born to Gerry and Ann Fitt, they were affectionately known as the Miss Fitts. Eileen Fitt is survived by three sisters, Betty, Patsy and Geraldine. Joan Hanna died in 2015, shortly after the death of former SDLP leader Gerry.
In a post on social media, John Simpson, the veteran BBC correspondent, wrote: "Very sad indeed to hear that Eileen Fitt has died. She was one of my favourite TV editors, though I first met her when she was a young girl in Belfast at the embattled house of her dad, the great Gerry Fitt MP. I’ll miss her very greatly."
Foreign correspondent Jeremy Bowen added: "Very sad. Eileen was a brilliant journalist, admired her greatly. She was a warm, welcoming and steely mentor when I joined BBC Newsnight as a 24 yr old trainee. When I moaned one day I couldn’t make an item work (I had a shocking hangover) she growled, it’s your job, do it."
Kevin Kelly, Interim Head Of News And Current Affairs, BBC Northern Ireland said: "Eileen was a determined, well respected, and tenacious television news editor. She edited the Ten O’Clock News from London in the latter days of the Troubles and during the peace process, and was always determined that the evolving story out of Northern Ireland was told to Network audiences in a fair and balanced way."
She was a mother of three.
