Veteran BBC journalist Stephen Grimason who broke news of the historic Good ... trends now
The veteran BBC journalist Stephen Grimason who broke news of the historic Good Friday Agreement in April 1998 has died aged 67.
The former BBC Northern Ireland political editor passed away following a long-term battle with cancer.
Following his iconic three-decade-long career in journalism, Grimason, originally from Lurgan, Co Armagh, later went on to work for the Stormont administration as director of communications.
He spoke publicly over the last year about his fight against cancer and said he received well wishes from former Prime Minister Tony Blair among others.
In an interview in January when he, along with former UTV political editor Ken Reid, was honoured with the Chancellor's Medal for services to journalism, he described leaving it as 'a bit of a wrench', recalling 'being surrounded by tremendous people'.
The veteran BBC journalist Stephen Grimason has died aged 67 after a long battle with cancer
The icon is widely remembered for breaking the news of the Good Friday Agreement in April 1998 and reporting on The Troubles
Looking back, he said he had a 'seat at the table for an awful lot of pretty dramatic Executive meetings' in the 2000s.
Grimason cut his teeth working in local newspapers including the Lurgan Mail, the Ulster Star in Lisburn and Banbridge Chronicle, as well as regional papers, the former Sunday News newspapers and the News Letter.
At just 27-years-old, Grimason had become the editor of the Banbridge Chronicle.
Later, after 12 years in newspaper journalism, he applied for a job at the BBC in Northern Ireland.
'There were something like 300 of us (who applied) and two of us got jobs - so I must have bluffed my way rightly,' he said of that time.
Speaking in January at Queen's University around the then political stalemate, Grimason noted the 'tide of Irish and Northern Irish politics goes in and out', adding: 'If you're not careful and you don't lead, you'll be left on the beach.'
He also spoke of covering some of the darkest days of the Troubles, including atrocities within days in January 1992 - an IRA bomb which killed eight construction workers at Teebane, Co Tyrone, and the killing of five people by
