Sad passing of former Mayor of Derry Annie Courtney
The death has occurred of former Mayor of Derry Annie Courtney, who replaced the SDLP leader John Hume as MLA for Foyle in the early 2000s.
Mrs. Courtney passed away peacefully at her home in Prehen on Thursday.
The former nurse was a member of the SDLP since its inception and founded a rural branch for the party in 1971.
SDLP Foyle MP Colum Eastwood paid tribute to Mrs. Courtney following her passing.
"Annie Courtney made an enormous contribution to her native Derry, serving her community as a nurse, councillor, Mayor and MLA. She had the distinction of succeeding John Hume in the Assembly, something I know she never took lightly.
"She was a first-class public servant who devoted her life to helping others and anyone who knew Annie would describe her as a true lady. On behalf of everyone in the SDLP, I want to extend our deepest sympathies to her family, friends and all those who knew her at this difficult time,” he said.
Originally from Park, she spent 40 years in the nursing profession before entering front-line politics in 1985.
She was among 14 SDLP councillors elected to Derry City Council in local elections that May and represented the people of the rural district for 20 years.
Mrs. Courtney was Mayor of Derry in 1993.
She was co-opted onto the Assembly as a replacement for the then party leader, the late John Hume, when he resigned to focus on his work as MP and MEP.
Mrs. Courtney was appointed the party's health spokesperson due to her background in nursing.
However, she left the SDLP in 2003 after being de-selected as an Assembly candidate.
She contested the elections to Derry City Council in 2005 as an independent but was not returned.
During her long career she served as chair of the Millennium Forum and sat on the Tourist Board and Fisheries Conservancy Board.
She was also active in the anti-incinerator campaign in the city.
Mrs. Courtney is predeceased by her husband Sydney.
She is mourned by her children Linda, Sean and Raymond, her grandchildren and great grandchildren, her siblings Margaret and Bridie, and her wider family circle.
She will be laid to rest in the City Cemetery following Requiem Mass at 11am in St. Columb’s Church, Chapel Road on Saturday.