TRIBUTES HAVE BEEN paid to the Galway journalist John Cunningham who has died. He was 66.

The former editor of the Connacht Tribune newspaper from 1984 to 2007, Tuam-born Cunningham was a well-established journalist who won the national journalist of the year award in 1979.

He was also editor of the Waterford News and Star in the 1980s and a regular contributor to RTÉ programming.

Cunningham was conferred with an honorary MA degree from NUI Galway in 2006 for his contribution to regional and national journalism. He also wrote a regular column – The Deputy – for the Connacht Tribune.

President Michael D Higgins and the Taoiseach Enda Kenny were among those to pay tribute to Cunningham today.

Paying his own tribute, Galway West TD Éamon Ó Cuív said: “John was one of the best and fairest journalists I have ever met.  He was a man of absolute integrity and honesty, and was very conscious of the importance of ethics in journalism.”

His Fianna Fáil colleague and party leader Micheál Martin also paid tribute: “John Cunningham will be missed, not only for his depth of knowledge and understanding of local politics, but also for his good humour and approachability.”

Cunningham is survived by his wife Nuala and sons Shane, Gary, Ivor and Enda.