'He was a man of conviction, a man of passion and a man of dedicated service'
Tributes have been paid to former Ulster Unionist Party MLA Samuel Gardiner who has died at the age of 82.He was elected to Lurgan Borough Council in 1963 and became Northern Ireland's youngest mayor in 1968.Mr Gardiner was later elected to Craigavon Borough Council and served as mayor three times, in 1982/3, 1988/9 and 2000/1. He was also elected to the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996.
"On behalf of the Ulster Unionist Party I would like to send my deepest condolences to Sam's family and his many friends at this sad time." Sinn Fein MLA John O'Dowd said: "I worked with Sammy both in council and in the Assembly over many years and while we had a different view of the world I always found him to be very civil and personable.