Protestant civil rights campaigner and organiser of the Bloody Sunday march of 1972

Born: January 1944;

Died: June 26, 2019

IVAN Cooper, who has died aged 75, was one of the founders of Northern Ireland's civil rights movement.

The former Stormont MP, who helped found the SDLP, led the fateful civil rights march in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday when soldiers shot dead 13 protesters in January 1972.

He was also at the forefront of another landmark civil rights march in Derry in October 1968.

Many point to the scenes of violence when police moved to break up the demonstration on the city's Duke Street as the effective beginning of the Northern Ireland Troubles.

Irish president Michael D Higgins presented Mr Cooper with a special award to mark his role in civil rights at an event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Duke Street march last year.

Mr Cooper was one of few Protestants involved with the civil rights movement. He said his involvement saw him ostracised by other Protestants, and even found people in his church refused to sit beside him on the pews.

Current SDLP leader Colum Eastwood paid tribute, hailing Mr Cooper as a man who embodied the contrasting traditions of this island. "Ivan Cooper was born to break the mould," he said.

"A working class Protestant man who saw a common injustice and inequality that had taken root in Protestant and Catholic communities, he dedicated his life to fighting it. As an early leader in the civil rights movement, few have contributed as much to peace and equality on this island than Ivan.

"Organising marches in Derry for the right to a home, the right to a job and the right to a vote, Ivan often put himself in the path of danger to secure justice for people in every community.

"And on many occasions that meant that he suffered vilification and violence for his convictions. It never stopped him."

Mr Eastwood also said that, alongside his close friend John Hume, Mr Cooper helped blaze the trail on the path that led to the Good Friday Agreement.

Born in the small village of Killaloo, Co Londonderry, in 1944, Ivan Cooper grew up in a working class family and joined the Young Unionists while still in his teens, although he later switched his allegiance to the non-sectarian Northern Ireland Labour Party.

Pat Hume, wife of former SDLP leader John, who is also suffering ill-health, said: "Ivan and John walked side by side, hand in hand, in their shared desire for equality, justice and peace in Ireland. Ivan was the embodiment of the non-violent and non-sectarian movement for change that was the campaign for civil rights.

"His commitment and courage and his desire and determination to tackle these issues never waned. Nor did his friendship and relationship with John and me. He was a loyal friend and constant visitor to John in recent years even as both battled ill-health."

Irish president Michael Higgins paid tribute to Mr Cooper. "With his unshakable belief in the universality and indivisibility of human rights, Ivan Cooper was a beacon of hope and the embodiment of the power of non-violent actions in pursuit of justice," he said.

Ireland's deputy premier Simon Coveney added: "Ivan's legacy is one of courage and determination in overcoming injustice, through peaceful, democratic means. His leadership and example in the civil rights movement was so important in showing that equality and mutual respect should be the basis for peace and progress in Northern Ireland."

Mr Cooper was played by the actor James Nesbitt in the 2002 film Bloody Sunday.

He is survived by wife Frances and daughters Sinead and Bronagh.