EIGHTEEN members of Joyce McCartan's extended family have died violently in the North her son, Gary, shot dead by the UVF in 1987, and 17 cousins, nephews and brothers in law. Loyalist paramilitaries were responsible for most of the killings, although the IRA accounted for at least one of the victims.
Joyce McCartan, who said they were all victims of random assassination, was motivated by a very simple maxim there was no "rhyme or reason to all the deaths inflicted during the Troubles, so something should be done.
She believed in community activism, in bread and butter issues, in motivating people, particularly women, and in bringing Protestants and Catholics together. A Protestant married to a Catholic, who reared her children as Catholics, she was unimpressed by the political divisions.
She felt the real enemies were poverty, sectarianism and unemployment. "You can't fry flags in a pan, was another of her maxims, as Ms Mary Clark Glass, of the Alliance Party, recalled yesterday when paying tribute.
Ms McCartan was a warm, genial women, with a great sense of humour. She could also be tough, hard bitten and outspoken. In May 1987 she was chatting to women at the Ormeau Road Women's Centre when she heard the "crack, crack" of shots. Then she heard her daughter shouting "Mammy, Mammy." She knew immediately that it was her son, Gary, who had been murdered, 17 years old and the youngest of her eight children.
The last time The Irish Times was in contact with her was shortly before Christmas when the IRA killed Christopher "Sid" Johnston, allegedly for drug dealing, not far from her Lamp Lighter cafe and community drop in centre on the Lower Ormeau. "Oh God, it's terrible, it's just so very hard to take," was Ms McCartan's reaction. She sounded particularly weary and distressed.
"That was her reaction whenever anybody was killed," said her friend, Ms Kathleen Feenan, also a community activist. "She hated the killings."
A good comparison was drawn yesterday between Gordon Wilson and Joyce McCartan. Outwardly, they rallied against personal tragedy and campaigned against the futility and immorality of the killings. They engaged with people and with the intractable problem.
Inwardly, however, there was a hidden, wearying grief that could be seen in their eyes and in their strained facial features. As union activist, Ms Inez McCormack, said about Ms McCartan "Her heart was written on her face."
In the weeks before Christmas, her friends said Ms McCartan looked exhausted and frail Shortly before Christmas she was admitted to hospital, where she died on Monday night, aged 67.
She described herself as a "family feminist". Sectarianism could be defeated by women bringing up children to understand rather than to hate "the other side", she argued over several years that stretched far back before her son's murder.
When her son was murdered, she said "I think it's about time women in Northern Ireland took a stand. It is important that they do take a stand, with the way things are going people getting murdered every week ... And I don't care who they are, they're still somebody's son.
She was involved in establishing about 60 women's centres in the North and a youth training operation, Mornington Enterprises, on the Lower Ormeau. A native of Downpatrick, Co Down, she consistently argued that working class people had the power to change the social and sectarian landscape.
In recent years, she received a number of honours. She was awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth and also received the Irish Life Pensioner of the Year title.
Last summer Queen's University Belfast awarded her an honorary doctorate for her "unlimited courage, unbending conviction and great inner strength" in promoting cross community reconciliation.
At the end of December, she played host in the Lamp Lighter cafe to Mrs Hillary Clinton during President Clinton's visit. It was a highlight in her life. "I've never had another day like this before," she said.
Mrs Clinton issued a statement yesterday praising Ms McCartan's commitment to peace and reconciliation.
"My thoughts are with her family and her friends at this time and with all of the people in Northern Ireland, whose lives she touched through her efforts for peace and reconciliation," said Mrs Clinton.
"Joyce's commitment and energy were an inspiration to me and to women and men throughout Northern Ireland, and, indeed, throughout the world. The time I spent with her in Belfast will live on with me as a very special memory of my visit to Northern Ireland."
Paying tribute yesterday, Mr Paddy Lynn, of the Workers' Party, said her death was a sad blow for the people of the Lower Ormeau, whom she had helped "so vigorously".
Mr Richard Need ham, the former economy minister in the North, said he had enormous respect for Ms McCartan.
