Popular SDLP press officer who achieved much in spite of illness

Stephen McKiernan, who has died aged 32, was a popular and respected press officer for the SDLP and a stalwart of the small group which kept the Irish language alive in the scattered rural communities of west Tyrone.

As a press officer McKiernan was helpful and patient, always willing to track down an extra piece of information, always ready to make time to explain the background to issues, off the record and discreetly.

He understood the needs of journalists, having been one himself, first with commercial radio station Q101.2 and then with the Tyrone Constitution.

As an adult, he threw himself into becoming fluent in Irish, attending night classes and spending time in the Gaeltacht. This was at a time when he was makng a 170-mile daily commute from his home in Trillick, Co Tyrone, to his work at Stormont.

All his achievements were against a background of ill health. He was diagnosed with cancer a decade ago while studying for a master’s degree at Queen’s University, Belfast.

He graduated, having undertaken much of his study in hospital.

Language learning

Five years ago, shortly after he began working for the SDLP, the illness returned. He continued the commute from Trillick to Belfast and continued to throw himself into learning Irish, Spanish and German. A quiet person, he was known for being concerned that he might be imposing on others.

Stephen McKiernan was the youngest of five children and third son to Kieran McKiernan and his wife, Marie (née McGale). He was raised in Drumnakilly, Co Tyrone and educated at Recarson Primary School, the Christian Brothers Grammar School in Omagh and Queen’s. He is survived by his widow, Julie, his children, Grace, Dara and Éabha, his sisters and brothers.