'He took many personal risks and put his life on the line for peace' - tributes paid to Brendan Duddy as the Derry businessman is laid to rest

Tributes were paid today to one of Derry’s best known businessmen who played a key role in the Northern Ireland peace process.

Brendan Duddy passed away after a long illness last Friday. He was aged 80.

Mr Duddy's Requiem Mass was held at St Eugene's Cathedral in the city this morning.

Among the mourners were BBC Journalist Peter Taylor who spoke at the beginning of the funeral to pay tribute to Mr Duddy.

Also in attendance were SDLP leader John Hume, First Derry Presbyterian minister Reverend David Latimer, former Policing Board deputy chair Dennis Bradley and representatives from the Irish government.

In 2008, the BBC broadcast a documentary entitled The Secret Peacemaker about Mr Duddy, directed by Peter Norrey, and presented by renowned journalist Taylor who had known he was 'the link' for ten years.

Speaking at today’s funeral service, Mr Taylor said: "It is an honour to be here today to pay tribute to Brendan. His family rang me a few days ago and asked whether I would be their Bill Clinton."

Mr Taylor said he told Mr Duddy 'I'd love to talk to you off the record about the role you've played for so many years. I thought he'd say no but he said when do you want to meet?'

"I went to his house and he spoke until the wee small hours and finished off a bottle of Irish whiskey. He told me this amazing story and when I woke up the following morning I realised how important the role he'd played in this thriller was."

Mr Taylor said he told Mr Duddy (pictured above meeting the Dalai Lama in 2013): 'Your story is remarkable and deserves to be told'.

"I kept the secret for many many years and in the end he was finally ready to talk.

"Brendan took many personal risks for peace and put his life on the line."

A pacifist and firm believer in dialogue, Mr Duddy became known by MI6 as "The Contact" during secret talks between the IRA and the British Government.

In his book “Great Hatred; Little Room – Making Peace in Northern Ireland,” Tony Blair's political advisor, Jonathan Powell, described him as the "key" which led to discussions between republicans and MI6.

Mr Duddy started out running a fish and chip shop in the city the 1960s and went on to establish a number of licensed premises and clothing outlets in the city.

In light of the dissolution of Stormont in 1972, his role as an intermediary started in January that year, when he was asked by Derry's chief police officer, Frank Lagan, to persuade the Official IRA and Provisional IRA to remove their weapons from the Bogside.

In the aftermath of the events and repercussions of Bloody Sunday, MI6 agent Michael Oatley arrived in Belfast in 1973, to create a communications channel between the IRA and the British Government, Mr Duddy becoming the go between, the Derry man suggesting steps which could be taken to give the Provisional IRA a way of ending the strike.

Following a meeting arranged between Martin McGuinness and Oatley in 1991, talks between the Derry republican and representatives of the British Government were held secretly in Mr Duddy’s home on Glen Road in the city.

Following the end of The Troubles, Mr Duddy served as a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board and helped broker negotiations related to the marching season.

He also testified to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry.

In the Spring of 2009, Mr Duddy donated his private archives to the James Hardiman Library at Galway University.