Tributes paid after death of former Guardian writer Henry McDonald

Henry McDonald in 2005. He was the Ireland correspondent for the Guardian and Observer for 23 years. Photograph: supplied

Political leaders in Northern Ireland have led tributes to the writer and former Guardian and Observer correspondent Henry McDonald, who has died at the age of 57.

Family, friends and media colleagues expressed shock and sadness on Sunday after McDonald died at the Royal Victoria hospital in Belfast, where he was being treated for cancer.