Businessman Don Tidey has paid tribute to a fallen soldier who made the “supreme sacrifice” while assisting in his rescue from a gang of Provisional IRA kidnappers almost 30 years ago.

Maze prison escapee Brendan 'Bik' McFarlane went on trial at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today for the 1983 kidnapping of supermarket boss Don Tidey during which a trainee garda and soldier were killed.