TRIBUTES HAVE BEEN paid to the former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Brooke, who has died aged 89.

In his lifetime, he was chairman of the Conservative Party and served as Britain’s national heritage secretary in his lifetime.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin said that he was “sorry to hear” about Brooke’s passing.

“Peter played a pivotal role in the emerging Northern Ireland peace process, helping pave the way for an end to violence,” Martin said in a tweet.

“My condolences to his family and friends at this sad time.”

Brooke had four sons from his first marriage, one of whom died before him.

Known as P to friends and family, he married Joan Margaret Smith in 1964. She died in 1985 following complications after a routine surgical procedure.

In 1991, he married Lindsay Allinson, a former constituency agent he met through the Conservative Party.

Brooke later became Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville – a title bestowed on him by former British prime minister John Major and then-Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris.

He left the Northern Ireland Office before Major’s peace initiative in 1993, but is remembered for his involvement in the early stages of the peace process.

Very sorry to hear of the passing of former Secretary of State for NI Peter Brooke.

Peter played a pivotal role in the emerging Northern Ireland peace process, helping pave the way for an end to violence.

My condolences to his family and friends at this sad time.

— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) May 15, 2023

Brooke was born in Hampstead, London, on 3 March 1934. His father Henry Brooke was a former home secretary.

He was educated at Marlborough, Balliol, Oxford University (where he was president of the Union) and Harvard Business School.

Brooke later worked as Swiss correspondent of the Financial Times, a management consultant and as a director of a girls’ school in Switzerland, before joining Camden Borough Council in 1968.

He fought various seats, including Bedwellty against Neil Kinnock, before his election as MP for City of London and Westminster South in 1977.

Mr Brooke served as Northern Ireland secretary from 1989 to 1992.

He caused controversy while serving as the Northern Irish secretary when he sang My Darling Clementine on RTE’s The Late Late Show in January 1992.

It was in the immediate wake of the Co Tyrone massacre and seriously damaged relations with the unionist parties.

In his statement to the Commons the following Monday, Brooke told MPs although his actions were “innocent in intent” they were “patently an error”.

He announced, after apologising unreservedly for his appearance on the show, that he had placed his resignation at the prime minister’s disposal. However, Major voiced full confidence in Brooke after refusing his resignation.

He finally left the Government in the prime minister’s reshuffle in the summer of 1994, and in 2001 he stepped down from the Commons and was given a life peerage.