00:00I'm told that Tommy McCourt was described in his younger days as a child as the blue-eyed boy of the family.
00:11Raised in the bog side, his family tell me that his political mindset was shaped by the inequalities he witnessed growing up in the bog side.
00:21Tommy tried a few jobs in his life, from telephone technician to even trying a bit of fishing, even if he wasn't quite sure of his port from his starboard.
00:38He never actually caught a fish.
00:43Tommy was always, family was always at the heart of his story.
00:48At a young age, he married Phyllis.
00:51They lived in Boncranor, Dublin, Killebeggs, pretty much all over Ireland, before finally deciding to settle back in Derry.
01:03Tommy was devoted to his beloved children, Brian, Shane and Anya, and they to him.
01:13Later, he met Jackie, and together they made a home in Rosemount, where Jackie was.
01:23Jackie's son Darren was like another son to Tommy.
01:28They had holidays in France, a particular favourite place,
01:34and I'm told that it provided a great space for the two families to bond together.
01:41And bond they did.
01:43As we all know, Tommy spent many years in the Rosemount Resource Centre,
01:48creating jobs and building community, and eventually establishing that state-of-the-art centre.
01:56I read a post from Mark H. Durkin last night, who said that Tommy always fought his corner,
02:03always fought for his community, and on the odd occasion, even fought with him.
02:09I met Tommy for the first time myself around two years ago on visits to the house in Osborne Street,
02:17where I would visit Jackie's late mum Mona, who sadly died only too recently.
02:23We got into the habit of sitting and having a cup of tea and a chat about anything and everything.
02:33But unfortunately, Tommy began to grow unwell,
02:36and conversations tended to start with,
02:41how are you today, Tommy?
02:43He was remarkably strong throughout his illness,
02:48always held on to the slightest hope,
02:51even though he was realistic and knew that the prognosis was serious.
02:57I was deeply struck by this.
03:01With Jackie and his family by his side, he stayed focused and realistic.
03:06And I'd always be taken on visits to Altman Galvin Hospital to see the boys taking and sitting vigil night and day
03:18with Tommy and Jackie.
03:22Tommy knew he was loved by his family,
03:26and he appreciated everything they did for him,
03:29and the doctors, and the nurses, and the care teams.
03:33I never once heard him complain about his health,
03:38in the sense of saying, why me?
03:44Jackie always had the holy water handy,
03:47even though Tommy didn't ask me for it.
03:53She'd say, give that man a blessing.
03:57And he always accepted it.
03:59On the morning of his death,
04:03I met Anya,
04:05who had just come home from Australia,
04:0924 hours or so before,
04:11and just in time.
04:14Tommy was still conscious,
04:16and there was music,
04:18and singing,
04:20and to everybody's surprise,
04:22Tommy bellowed out,
04:25how great thou art,
04:26and grace.
04:29And grace.
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