Michael Canavan remembered as a ‘giant in Derry civil rights movement’ in Stormont tribute
Michael Canavan was described as a ‘giant in Derry’s civil rights movement’ at the Stormont Assembly on Monday with Foyle MLA Sineád McLaughlin observing that he was a man who dedicated his life to standing up for the city and its people.
Mr. Canavan passed away at the age of 102 on Friday.
Paying tribute at Stormont, Mrs. McLaughlin spoke of how the centenarian had been a central figure during some of the pivotal moments of the civil rights campaigns of the 1960s.
“Michael was a giant in Derry's civil rights movement, a founding member of the SDLP and someone who dedicated his life to standing up for his city and its people. It is difficult to do justice for everything that Michael achieve in just a few minutes.
“He was there on Duke Street on October 5, 1968, when peaceful civil rights protesters were met with violence. He witnessed first hand the discrimination and the injustice that so many people in Derry faced.
“He served as the Secretary of the Citizens' Action Committee and was involved in the Citizens’ Defence Association during the Battle of the Bogside and was chair of the Central Committee at the time of Bloody Sunday.
“He believed that everyone deserved to be treated with dignity, fairness and respect and he was prepared to stand up and demand it,” said Mrs. McLaughlin.
The Foyle SDLP MLA reminded MLAs that Mr. Canavan’s contribution to Derry went ‘far beyond the civil rights movement’.
"He was John Hume's election agent in 1969. He helped establish the SDLP and was elected to the Assembly in 1973. He was also involved in establishing the Derry Credit Union, an organisation that continues to make a real difference to people right across our city today.
“One of the causes closest to Michael's heart was the campaign for a university in Derry. He was part of the University for Derry Committee in 1965 and when the decision was taken to locate the new university in Coleraine he refused to accept that Derry should simply be left behind.
“At a time when our city was losing railway connections and economic opportunities, Michael was writing to industrialists right across the world, encouraging them to invest in Derry and in the North West.
“That tells you everything you need to know about what kind of man he was.
"He wasn't prepared to accept that Derry should settle for less and he certainly wasn't prepared to give up on its future,” MLAs heard.
Mrs. McLaughlin noted that more than half a century after the agitations of the 1960s Mr. Canavan was still ‘campaigning for greater investment in our city and the university that generations of people have fought to secure’.
"As someone who continues to campaign for regional balance and fair investment in the North West I think there is an enormous amount we can learn from Michael's determination.
"He understood that Derry deserved the same opportunities as everywhere else, not special treatment but equal treatment and he understood that achieving that fairness required people who were prepared to keep making the case even when others refused to listen.
"Our city is a better place because of Michael's courage, determination and lifelong commitment to the city,” she said.