This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6239263.stm
The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| PUP leader 'critical' in hospital | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Progressive Unionist Party leader David Ervine is in a critical condition after falling ill suddenly at his home. | |
| Mr Ervine, 53, is being treated in the intensive care unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. | |
| He was initially taken to the Ulster Hospital at Dundonald in east Belfast but was later moved to the RVH. | |
| Mr Ervine has been an assembly member for East Belfast since 1998 and was one of the key figures in the brokering of the loyalist ceasefire of 1994. | |
| Thoughts and prayers | |
| Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain has sent a message of support and encouragement to Mr Ervine's family. | |
| Former Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid - the current home secretary - said his thoughts and prayers were with David Ervine's family at this difficult time. | |
| The PUP's Northern Ireland Policing Board member Dawn Purvis said: "David took ill this morning and is being cared for in hospital. His family are with him." | |
| Mr Ervine, who is married with two sons, became the leader of the PUP in 2002 after replacing Belfast councillor Hugh Smyth. |