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A long lost photograph of a Northern Ireland politician and his late sister has been returned to him after being found by a family friend in a charity shop book.

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) assembly member Mark H Durkan had searched for the photo of him and his sister Gay, taken in the early 2000s, many times in recent years.

Gay died in 2011.

Mr Durkan told ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ News NI he is "over the moon" to have the photograph back.

He is "still trying to take in" how it had been found.

"I guess I'm just trying to explain and understand what can't really be explained or understood," he said.

The image shows a young Mr Durkan and Gay photographed together before a school formal.

Only recently he had asked his mum what had become of the photo that for some years Gay had pinned on her bedroom wall.

But no one in the Durkan family knew of its whereabouts - until Monday evening.

Mr Durkan had been among the thousands of fans in Londonderry's Guildhall Square to welcome Derry City's cup winning footballers back to the city.

As he was making his way home, a long-time friend, Eamon McGinley, who was home from London for the match, sent him a message to say he had something for him.

Eamon's mum Helen had recently bought a copy of Danielle Steele's novel, Vanished, in a local charity shop.

As she leafed through, the photograph fell from it pages.

"The chances seem like one in a million and we can't understand how it came to be in that book - no one in the family ever owned a copy of it," he said.

"But I am so thankful to Eamon and Helen for getting this back to us."

The Foyle MLA said he thinks of his sister daily.

He said it is hard to describe how much the return of the photo means to him.

"I have always been a great believer in wee signs, signs from those no longer with us.

"But none have ever been as obvious as this."