An elderly man who married his long-term friend for tax purposes just over two years ago has died.

Matt Murphy, originally from Cashel, Co Tipperary, married Michael O'Sullivan in order for him to avoid paying inheritance tax on his home in Stoneybatter in Dublin.

Mr Murphy told RTÉ’s Liveline programme in 2017 that he was marrying his best friend "because he’ll be part of my life when I die". Neither of the men were gay, and Mr O’Sullivan became his carer.

Speaking on the same programme today, Mr O’Sullivan paid tribute to his husband describing him as a "great man" who died in the Mater Hospital in the early hours of this morning.

"He was a wonderful person, an absolutely wonderful person, he loved people. Even when he was ill in the house, you would not know he was sick. Once you got him sitting down, someone to talk to, you would not know he was ill."

Mr O'Sullivan said that Mr Murphy, who was born in 1935, and his family worked in an estate house just outside Cashel.

"Matt was illegitimately born in 1935, and up until he died he never knew who his father was," he said.

"So he said that he came into the world 'under a big cloud’ but he went out ‘in a mighty bang’. And that’s really true."