By Philip Bradfield

Copyright newsletter

A statement from his business, Milne Funeral Services, said that it was “with extremely heavy hearts we share the tragic news of Ian’s passing” which happened “suddenly at home in Banbridge” on Sunday. Mr Milne joined the RUC in the late 1970s and went on to work as an auctioneer, estate agent and prison officer. For the last 25 years he had run his funeral directors business with offices in Portadown, Banbridge and Lurgan. In 2020 he published a book lifting the lid on how he had also led a secret double life as a mediator who almost secured a deal between the two sides during the Drumcree parading dispute. Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart expressed her shock at his death, having received a text message from Mr Milne at 4:10pm on the day he passed away. “You really don’t know the day or the hour,” she said. “At 4.10pm today I received the last message I will ever receive from Ian Milne. “He and I over the weekend had spoken three times as he helped families navigate some difficulties in their own grief journey. “Little did we know this would be the last. My thoughts are with the Milne family. To the boys and his fiancé as they now walk the path they have helped so many with.” Over 1,200 tributes to Mr Milne have been posted to his business Facebook site. One woman said: “A man whose presence in this community was marked by compassion and dignity, he walked beside families during their darkest days — including mine — easing burdens with a gentle word, a steady hand, and a respect that went far beyond duty.” Portadown UUP councilor Julie Flaherty said he had been “an absolute gentleman”. The councillor told his business associates: “The care you all demonstrated to my family at times of loss cannot be described- but so many in our community will know of the same care and empathy… with his own little wicked humour sometimes.” DUP MLA Emma Little-Pengelly also expressed her shock. “His professionalism and kindness at the worst of times in so many people’s lives was so very appreciated,” she said. In his book, ‘A Matter of Life and Death’, journalist Ivan Little detailed Mr Milne’s previously little-known role in meeting leading republicans and Portadown loyalist Billy Wright, as well as the Orange Order and Gerry Adams. His efforts came agonisingly close to a breakthrough as he shuttled between the two sides with a series of proposals, with both sides going on record in the book to praise his efforts. He later went on to complete a related Master’s degree at QUB. The biography recounted how he was sexually abused by a family friend when he was 11. Another dark chapter unwraps how, during the banking crash of 2008, pressure to repay loans almost drove him to take his life. It also details his years in the RUC, the murder of colleagues and brushes with death. And he recounts the story of how personal links with Tony Blair resulted in organising a funeral for a Chinese woman who was brutally murdered by sex traffickers in Belfast.