Listen: Goggins tributes from across the divide

DUP MP Gregory Campbell also specifically praised his personal work and interest in sustaining a prison at Magilligan, in his East Londonderry constituency.

Speaking during a debate at Westminster, Mr Campbell stated: “He was an outstanding example of a humanitarian, as well as an assiduous constituency Member of Parliament.

“Paul and I worked closely a few years ago when he was a Northern Ireland Minister on the re-establishment of Magilligan prison in my constituency when there was a serious threat of its closure.

“He assured me at that stage that if a case was made, he would overrule some of the decisions that were going to be made in the higher echelons of the civil service. He was, as we all know, a man of his word, and he did that, and I pass on my sympathies to his family and his wife.”

SDLP MP for Foyle, Mark Durkan echoed, Mr Campbell stating: “May I thank you for speaking for each of us in your very articulate tribute to Paul Goggins’ ethic and the esteem that he earned in this House and beyond?

“Paul was not a ‘selfie’ politician. His question was not who would get the credit for a measure or change, but who would get the benefit from it.

“Those of us in Northern Ireland who benefited from his work are right, on this special day, to give him credit for so much of the progress that he helped to build.”