Sinn Féin has paid tribute to former senior IRA member, Brendan 'Bik' McFarlane who has died after a short illness.
In 1976, he was jailed for life for a gun and bomb attack on the Bayardo Bar on Belfast's Shankill Road which killed five and injured 60 others.
Mr McFarlane was commander of the IRA prisoners in the Maze during the 1981 hunger strike and led the mass escape from the prison two years later.
He went on the run and was re-captured in the Netherlands along with fellow Maze escapee Gerry Kelly.
Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly said his thoughts are with Mr McFarlane's family following his death.
"Bik was a Republican activist all his life right to the end and gave all that he had to the struggle for a united Ireland" he said in a statement.
"He was a huge figure within Republicanism and particularly at the time of the hunger strike in 1981 when 10 of our comrades lost their lives in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh" he added.
Sinn Féin Leader Mary Lou McDonald said he was dedicated to "a struggle for the freedom and unity of Ireland, and the equality of its people".
"Bik was, and will always remain, a giant of Irish republicanism.
"A proud son of Ardoyne in Belfast, he was part of a generation who rose up against oppression, the British occupation and the sectarian Orange state." she said.
"He proved to be a formidable, thoughtful leader.
"That leadership was never more needed than in the brutality of the H-Blocks, and especially during the extremely difficult days of the 1981 Hunger Strikes.
"Bik always carried the memories of his ten brave comrades who laid down their lives with him. He never forgot the depth of their sacrifice.
"He often reflected on the political and social impact of the Hunger Strike, how it changed the course of Irish history, and decisively influenced the direction of Irish republican politics" she added.
In 1998, Mr McFarlane was charged in the Republic with kidnapping supermarket executive Don Tidey in 1983.
The trial collapsed in 2008 when garda evidence was ruled inadmissible.
Mr McFarlane then took a case to the European Court pleading that there was unnecessary delay in the proceedings.
In 2010, the court in Strasbourg upheld his complaint and dismissed the Irish Government's claims about domestic judicial solutions.
The court ruled that proceedings taken against him have taken too long and has ordered that he be paid compensation.
