Cardinal Cahal Daly, former leader of Ireland's Catholics, dies at 92

He had been in the coronary intensive care unit at Belfast city hospital since Monday and died peacefully in the presence of his family and friends, said his successor, Cardinal Sean Brady. "It is difficult to do full justice to the significance and achievements of his long, full and happy life. But I believe, when fully assessed and appreciated, the legacy of Cardinal Cahal Daly to the ecclesiastical and civil history of Ireland will be seen as immense," he said.

Daly was born in Loughguile, Co Antrim, on 1 October 1917. He was archbishop of Armagh and was made a cardinal in 1991. He retired in 1996, at the age of 79, and returned to his study of philosophy.

As head of the Catholic church, he was outspoken against IRA violence and publicly denounced acts of terrorism as "sinful". During one sermon in the 1980s in St Patrick's chapel in central Belfast, Sinn Féin supporters walked out in protest.

He was cardinal at a time of crisis for the Catholic church in Ireland, particularly in its response to the paedophile priest scandals and the disclosure that Bishop Eamon Casey had plundered diocesan funds in Galway to support the son he kept secret in the US.