The funeral of veteran political journalist Ken Reid will take place next week as his family have thanked the public for their “lovely tributes and kind words”.
It was announced on Wednesday that the 69-year-old passed away in hospital after a long illness.
A mainstay of our television screens for several decades, he had retired from UTV in 2021 after 27 years with the broadcaster.
In 2017, he revealed he had been diagnosed with a form of leukaemia.
His funeral will take place at St Patrick’s Parish Church, on Castle Street in Ballymena, on Thursday 28 November at 11am with a private cremation afterwards, according to a post on Funeral Times.
The journalist is described as the “much loved husband of Liz, loving father of Gareth, Sarah and Sophie, father-in-law of Keith and devoted granda of Summer and Hugo, dear brother of Lynn and brother-in-law of Stephen”.
The First and deputy First Ministers led the huge outpouring of tributes and memories yesterday from across the political spectrum, as well as from colleagues past and present, following the news of his death.
Mr Reid started his journalism career at the News Letter where he served as sports editor, and later editor, of the Sunday News from 1984 to 1987.
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He joined the Cork Examiner from 1987 to 1994 before joining UTV where, as political editor, he covered some of Northern Ireland’s biggest moments, including the 1998 Belfast Agreement.
In 2017, Mr Reid was diagnosed with a form of leukaemia “almost by accident” after going for a check-up with a podiatrist about a foot infection.
Following his diagnosis, he campaigned for blood charity Leukaemia & Lymphoma NI, becoming a patron for the group in 2023.
A statement posted on X on Thursday read: “The Reid family would like to thank everyone for the lovely tributes and kind words
“They have been a great source to comfort.”
Yesterday, First Minister Michelle O’Neill recalled a “true giant in local journalism” while deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said he was “a well known face to so many generations”.