CIVIL rights campaigner and founder member of the SDLP, Austin Currie has died at the age of 82.

His heartbroken family announced this evening that Mr Currie died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Derrymullen, Co Kildare.

He had just celebrated his 82nd birthday. Mr Currie grew up in the Edendork area and was the eldest of 11 children. He was married to Annita for 53 years. They were a formidable team whose love for each other and their family saw them through some of the worst times in Northern Ireland’s recent history.

The veteran campaigner was one of the founding members of the SDLP along with John Hume and Gerry Fitt.

Mr Currie played a key role in the politics of that era.  His decision to squat in a council house in Caledon in June 1968 is widely seen as the beginning of the civil rights movement. In 1989, he won a seat in Dublin West for Fine Gael and pursued a successful career as TD and minister until retirement in 2002.

Mr Currie is survived by his children Estelle, Caitriona, Dualta, Austin and Emer, their partners and 13 grandchildren.

In a statement, Mr Currie’s family said,  “Our Daddy was wise, brave and loving and we thank him for the values that he lived by and instilled in us. He was our guiding star who put the principles of peace, social justice and equality first.

“From Edendork to the bog of Allen, Daddy was most at home with his beloved Annita and his family, surrounded by newspapers and grandchildren. We will miss him deeply.”

Funeral arrangements will be announced in due course.