Raymond McClean:RAYMOND McCLEAN, who has died aged 78, was a civil rights activist, politician and doctor who tended the injured and dying on Bloody Sunday.
He led an active and varied life which reflected his passions for medicine, charity, human rights, politics, Third World aid programmes and sport. His death in January was marked by tributes from across the political spectrum especially in his native Derry city which he loved and to which he was devoted.
His lifelong friend, Dr Edward Daly, the former bishop of Derry, told the congregation at his funeral he was “a great gentleman” and a “light” for the city. “Raymond was a bright light in the world and in the lives of the many people he touched,” he said.
“He also shone light on the darkness of injustice and cruelty and showed them up for what they were. He gave hope and encouragement to people when they needed hope. He served the people of this city with distinction and great generosity.”
Raymond McClean studied medicine at Trinity College Dublin, and, unusually for a medical student, it was here that he developed his love for amateur boxing and, typically for a Derryman, soccer. He excelled at both, winning the Irish university boxing championship three times and representing his college in the Irish university football league. He met the writer Ulick O’Connor and the pair struck up a friendship that lasted throughout his life.
On qualifying, he moved to Wales and played professional soccer for a time before returning to his native city to take up a post in the new Altnagelvin hospital and to marry Sheila, in 1961. Soon after, however, he joined the Royal Air Force and was posted to what was then the Persian Gulf. After just three years as a medic in the forces he returned to Derry and he took up a position as medical officer at the city’s Du Pont plant. He stayed there for seven years before going into general practice.
Derry was scarred by the street turmoil of the late 1960s and his medical services were much in demand. He told the Derry Journal: "I was doing what I always wanted to so I was happy. But the calls at night during the Troubles were awful. We always knew if the [British] army were raiding in Creggan that there would be at least four or five call-outs for me that night," he said.
Given the situation on the streets, McClean became closely involved with politics, joining the civil rights movement. He became a colleague of John Hume, the first deputy leader of the SDLP which was founded in 1970.
He was present on January 30th, 1972, when paratroopers opened fire on anti-internment march in the Bogside shooting 27 people and killing 14. He tended to many of the victims on that day.
McClean was also an author and wrote his account, My Road to Bloody Sunday.
His large funeral was attended by former SDLP leaders John Hume and Mark Durkan as well as representatives of both the Taoiseach and the President. He is survived by his wife Sheila, and their son Seán and daughter Sheila.
Raymond McClean: born January 16th, 1933; died January 29th, 2011