The death has been announced of sociologist and campaigner Fr. Micheál Mac Gréil.
He passed after a short illness in Westport.
A former lecturer at Maynooth University, Fr. Micheál was a founding member of the Western Inter-County Railway Committee.
In the Early nineties, efforts from Fr. Micheál prevented the removal of the rail track between Claremorris and Collooney and became patron of West On Track which was set up in 2003.
President Michael D Higgins said Fr. Micheál was ‘an early and constant call for the importance of overcoming social prejudice.’ In supporting rights for members of the travelling community and the decriminalisation of homosexuality.
Peter Bowen Walsh, an advocate for the Western Railway Corridor in Sligo and a friend of Fr. Micheál, paid the following tribute:
