• Showband star with a unique voice who sang his heart out

  Joe Dolan: Joe Dolan, who has died aged 68, was a singer and entertainer who came to prominence in the heady days of the showband boom. With his band The Drifters, he built a strong fan base, nationally and internationally. His recording of Make Me an Island was a British top 10 hit and topped the charts in 14 other countries. p
  

• Virtuoso pianist who popularised swing jazz

  Oscar Peterson: After the phenomenal jazz-piano virtuoso Art Tatum died in 1956, the Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson, who had already been waiting in the wings for a decade, eased his formidable frame on to the throne. p
  

• Highly esteemed Proust scholar and dedicated teacher

  Richard Bales: Richard Bales was an inspirational university teacher of French at Queen's University Belfast, and a researcher who enjoyed an international reputation in the field of Proust studies. A member of the prestigious Équipe Proust in Paris, at the École Normale Supérieure, working on a major project to publish diplomatic editions of Proust's workbooks, he bridged the research communities in his field in France, the United Kingdom and Ireland. p
  

• Tireless protector of Dublin's heritage

  Uinseann MacEoin: Uinseann MacEoin, who has died at the age of 87, was an architect and planner, fearless journalist and author, veteran republican, leading campaigner for the conservation of Georgian Dublin and an enthusiastic mountain climber - the first Irishman to "bag" all 284 "Munros" - Scottish peaks higher than 3,000ft. p
  

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