"I am deeply saddened at the passing of Jimmy Carter, former US president and Nobel prize winner, at the age of 100.

"President Carter truly lived a life less ordinary, with a deep commitment to peace in the Middle East, human and civil rights, housing, and ending the arms race between the US and the Soviet Union.

"The personification of public service, his work extended to our own island, as he took the first decisive steps to proactive and transformational US engagement on Northern Ireland. This commitment to peace in Ireland endures today.

"A humanitarian to the end, my condolences go to President Carter’s family, friends and the American people."