Ted Howell, aka Eamon McCrory, who died yesterday after being ill for some time, was the most important republican figure in the peace process you’ve never heard of.

He was one of Gerry Adams’s closest confidants and advisers for more than 50 years.

A couple of years ahead of Adams at St Mary’s CBS on the Glen Road in west Belfast, Howell joined the IRA soon after it was established and became O/C of the Belfast Brigade’s second battalion in the west of the city.

However, by the late seventies he had moved behind the scenes and spent many years in north America and mainland Europe, attempting to buy weaponry, ferrying cash back to Ireland, liaising with supporters and developing networks.

Brian Feeney: ‘Ted Howell was the most important republican figure in the peace process you’ve never heard of'