Ninety years ago, on January 18 1934, leading journalist, businessman and nationalist politician Joseph “Wee Joe” Devlin died at the age of 62.

Devlin was intimately linked with The Irish News, first as a journalist with the paper from 1891 to 1893, then as a director from 1905 to his death almost 30 years later. He became chairperson in 1922. In that 30-year period, in essence he was the controlling figure of The Irish News which espoused his pragmatic constitutional nationalist political views.

A great organiser and debater, dubbed the “duodecimo Demosthenes” for his oratory skills by fellow nationalist Tim Healy, Devlin rose from humble beginnings to become the leading nationalist voice in Belfast during his lifetime. On top of controlling The Irish News, Devlin was the foremost northern leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP), the national president of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), and general secretary of the United Irish League (UIL).

His death in 1934 left a big gap in nationalist political leadership only really filled by the emergence of John Hume in the late 1960s

Devlin’s leadership of the AOH was criticised by opponents who considered it a sectarian organisation, the Catholic counterweight to the Protestant Orange Order, and for its reputation for using “Tammany Hall” type-tactics in its political engagements.

The Irish News view: Council needs to explain why it has refused bilingual signs that residents want

Remembering ‘Wee Joe’ Devlin 90 years on – Cormac Moore

While Devlin used robust tactics and methods to achieve political and electoral aims, he was not sectarian. He was one of very few politicians in the north who was able to cross the sectarian divide (at least before 1912), particularly amongst the working classes and with........

© The Irish News