Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill has paid tribute to Bloody Sunday campaigner John Kelly after his death.

Mr Kelly’s brother, Michael, was shot and killed by British Forces in Derry during what became known as Bloody Sunday, in January 1972. Michael, then 17, was unarmed when he was shot by Soldier F, the Saville Inquiry concluded.

For decades after his brother’s killing, Mr Kelly campaigned for justice and truth surrounding the killings of 13 men during a civil rights march in Derry. He worked with the Bloody Sunday Trust since its inception in 1997, and was honoured with a civic reception upon his retirement from the trust and the Free Derry Museum in 2024.

Tony Doherty, Chairman of the Bloody Sunday Trust, confirmed that Mr Kelly passed away peacefully in the early hours of Saturday morning, following a long illness.

Ms O’Neill has paid tribute to Mr Kelly following his passing, saying that for five decades, he fought for justice for his brother and the others who were killed in the incident.

‘I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Bloody Sunday campaigner John Kelly,’ Ms O’Neill wrote. ‘John was a proud Derry man who spent much of his life fighting for truth and justice.’

‘His 17-year-old brother Michael was murdered by the British Army on Bloody Sunday, and for more than five decades John fought for justice, not just for his own family but for all those killed and injured that day.

‘Despite the continued denial of justice, John never gave up. His courage and determination in taking on the British state in the fight for justice were remarkable.

Through his campaigning and his work at the Museum of Free Derry, John made sure the story of Bloody Sunday was passed on to new generations and that the fight for justice would never be forgotten.’

Foyle MP and former SDLP leader Colum Eastwood called Mr Kelly’s passing a ‘very sad day for Derry,’ adding that Mr Kelly was ‘a man of quiet dignity who carried himself with the confidence of someone who knew he was just in his cause.’

Mr Kelly’s death notice says he was the beloved husband of the late Margaret, loving father of John, Michael, Emmett, Mark, Niall and Martin, and beloved grandfather of Sean, Ruari, Mollie, Luke, Aedan, Nathan, Ava, Thomas and Eve.

His funeral cortege will leave his home on Monday, November 9, at 9.20 am for St Mary’s Church, Creggan, for requiem mass at 10am.

Family flowers only by request, and donations, if desired, to Foyle Hospice, 61 Culmore Road, Derry, or City Friends of Marie Curie, 29G Gortrush Industrial Estate, Omagh.