Former Ulster Unionist Party leader James Molyneaux has died aged 94.
His political career spanned more than three decades.
He joined the party in 1946 and went on to become one of its longest-serving leaders from 1979 to 1995.
At the end of World War Two, he was among the first British troops to enter the newly liberated Belsen concentration camp in Germany.
He was knighted in 1996 and was granted a life peerage in the 1997 Birthday Honours list, becoming Lord Molyneaux of Killead.
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Fifty-six years after the liberation of Belsen, former Ulster Unionist leader Lord Molyneaux returned to location of the concentration camp in Germany.
Ulster Unionist Party leader Mike Nesbitt said: "He brought a stability to the unionist party at a time when it was much needed.
"Times were fraught, not just in terms of the exceptional level of barbaric terrorism that was being imposed upon the people of Northern Ireland, but this very difficult political situation where the then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher was persuaded to sign the Anglo-Irish Agreement with the government of the Republic of Ireland, which was incredibly destabilising for Northern Ireland."
Lord Molyneaux was MP for South Antrim from 1970 to 1983 and for Lagan Valley from 1983 to 1997.
End Quote Lord Kilclooney Former Ulster Unionist MPHe was a quiet man of politics, but a very genuine gentleman who gave great leadership to the Ulster Unionist Party at a time when it was riven by division"
In 1979, he succeeded Harry West as UUP leader.
He held his party together in the face of a continued challenge from the Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley.
Current DUP leader Peter Robinson said Lord Molyneaux was "first and foremost a committed unionist".
"Through his service in the RAF in World War Two and 27 years as a member of parliament, he was marked by a quiet determination and diplomacy," he said.
"Jim's leadership encompassed many difficult years for unionism and his skills were key to ensuring that the Ulster Unionist Party held together when there were competing viewpoints about how to move forward."
Ulster Unionist assembly member Danny Kennedy said: "He fought for our nation in war, and gave strong and determined leadership in the most difficult period of our country's history.
"He was highly regarded and respected as leader of our party, and his legacy remains in the values he represented and passed on."
Former Ulster Unionist MP Lord Kilclooney said: "He was a quiet man of politics, but a very genuine gentleman who gave great leadership to the Ulster Unionist Party at a time when it was riven by division."
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