Good grief, I was just thinking the other night that it was time that I gave Fred a bell for one of our occasional chats and now I discover that the beggar's gone and died on me!

Fred was one of the most inspirational, humanitarian, knowledgeable, and talented people that I have ever been privileged to know. We shared political sympathies, a love of both the blues and Ireland's traditional music and song, and lots of laughter about the absurdities of the world (and, especially, some of the bizarre characters which inhabit it).

He really will be very much missed.