Update: 5.20am: The Funeral will take place on Thursday of the former Bishop of Derry, Edward Daly.

Dr Daly died aged 82 after a battle with cancer.

Dr Daly will be removed to St Eugene’s Cathedral in Derry this evening, ahead of his funeral on Thursday. 

Update: 12.50pm: The Minister for Foreign Affairs is leading tributes to the former Bishop of Derry Edward Daly.

Charlie Flanagan has described Bishop Daly as a man of peace who will be greatly missed by the people of Derry

The President Michael D.Higgins has said Edward Daly will be remembered ‘for his peaceful, compassionate, humanitarian and courageous actions during Bloody Sunday’.

Earlier: Retired Catholic bishop, Edward Daly, who went to the aid of civil rights protesters gunned down by British soldiers during Bloody Sunday in the North has died, the Catholic Church said.

The 82-year-old famously waved a blood-stained white handkerchief as a symbol of ceasefire as he attempted to help a fatally injured demonstrator in Derry in January 1972.

British Paratroopers had opened fire and killed 13 people.

Fourteen were injured, and another was to die later.

Dr Daly had served in the city since 1962.

He was Bishop of Derry from 1974 until 1993, stepping aside after suffering a stroke. In recent years he has battled a long-term illness.

The clergyman was awarded the freedom of the city last year alongside his Church of Ireland counterpart and hailed the rich “tapestry of cultures” which made up his adopted home.

The cleric, from Belleek in Co Fermanagh, was a prolific writer and in latter years helped the dying in his role as chaplain at Foyle Hospice in Derry.

Bishop Donal McKeown, current Bishop of Derry, said: “It is with deepest regret that I announce the death, this morning, of Bishop Edward Daly, Bishop Emeritus of Derry.”

He said his fellow clergyman provided an exemplary example of priestly ministry and held deep love for the people of his diocese.

“Bishop Daly served, without any concern for himself, throughout the traumatic years of the Troubles, finding his ministry shaped by the experience of witnessing violence and its effects; through this dreadful period he always strove to preach the Gospel of the peace of Christ.”

He added: “The bishops, priests and people of the diocese were blessed to have such a dedicated and faithful priest among them.

“May Bishop Daly rest in peace.”