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THE STATE FUNERAL of Albert Reynolds is being held in Dublin today before he is laid to rest with full military honours.
Mourners will be led by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny and President Michael D Higgins. A number of other dignitaries, including former British Prime Minister John Major, are also expected at the Sacred Heart Church in Donnybrook.
Father Brian D’Arcy will be the chief celebrant for the funeral Mass in the presence of the Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin and a number of other con-celebrants.
Philip Reynolds, the deceased’s son, will give the eulogy and daughter Andrea will read a reflection.
Singers and musicians will include Eimear Quinn, Red Hurley and Paddy Cole.
RTÉ News’ live footage of the Mass will be shown on this website from 11.30am with commentary from John Bowman and Mary Kennedy.
At about 2pm, the funeral cortege will proceed to Shanganagh Cemetery in Shankill, where the former taoiseach will be laid to rest and buried with full military honours.
The Pope has issued a telegram of condolence to be read at the mass, noting with gratitude his efforts to promote peace and reconciliation.
The Mass booklet includes the Taoiseach’s famous quote, “Who is afraid of peace?” and a poem, I See You Dancing , Father by Brendan Kennelly, signed off by his children.
No sooner downstairs after the night’s rest
Than you started to dance a step
In the middle of the kitchen floor
And as you danced
You made your own music
Always in tune with yourself
Well, nearly always, anyway
You’re buried now
In Lislaughin Abbey
And whatever I think of you
I go back beyond the old man
Mind and body broken
To find the unbroken man,
It is the moment before the dance begins,
Your lips are enjoying themselves
Whatever happens or cannot happen
In the time I have to spare
I see you dancing, father
Rest in peace, Dad.
And in the door
You whistled
Whistling an air,
Whatever happens or cannot happen
In the time I have to spare
I see you dancing, father
Rest in peace, Dad.
It also includes a photo of Reynolds and his wife Kathleen with the quote: “Marrying Kathleen was the best decision of my life.”
Albert Reynolds passed away on Thursday following a long illness. He was 81 years old.
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He was one of the good guys
No, he was not one of the good guys. Passports and export credit insurance were just two of his serious improprieties in public office. Passports in return for investment in C&d foods was one of his lower points.
The judgment of Hamilton in the beef tribunal like the AGs actions and the legal gang cartels cover ups that brought his government down over child abuse all show that the mafia in the secret society rule and regulate as dictators from the bench and the inner circle.You lot have blood on your hands against this man of peace ,let Albert rest in peace as he stood for peace and not corruption
He got away thanks to the gangasters in the legal profession cartel gang@ ABOVE
@Peter: And I guess you’re absolutely perfect Peter? Never made any mistakes in life! How can you say that somebody was not a good guy on the basis of two bad decisions? The Passport for Investment scheme was a Government scheme which was intended to encourage investment in Ireland and create employment. It seems misguided and wrong from today’s vantage point, but you can’t always judge the past by the standards of today.
What’s wrong with the legal profession ?
a man who grasped the chance of peace, were fine gael in power at the time ira and british bombs would still be going off..
I was expecting you to ask how much is the state funeral going to cost us…that’s your usual narrative
no it’s not,
And what is wrong with that narrative.
Nothing, at least he asks important questions.
Fine … its easy to see that you are a PR man by your slanted print.. what about child abuse the beef tribunal the allowed cover ups and the covert wrong doings of the legal gang that brought him and his government down. Albert i salute you on your actions for peace,the time was right thus peace in our time R I P
i was talking about peace, if you want to talk about child abuse ask your local garda why they allowed state personnel and priests to engage in pedophilia
He did not let republican ideology impede the peace process and he built good personal relations with his negotiating partners but we can’t attribute the credit just to Reynolds or to Ahern. Many more courageous persons were involved in the peace process.
like martin and gerry
Martin and Gerry who?
SeekingUniversalTruth@….. i am very aware of how corrupt the gardai are ,the truth will out very soon on this and the other cover ups
i hope so harry but we don’t have very many journalists who are willing to stand up to the gardai,
most of the newspapers are state sponsored too.
Why is it when someone dies in this country that the same people who berated them are the first to give there condolences. It’s a bit hippo critical don’t you think. Flowers when you can’t smell them. Condolences when you can’t hear them. People are so shallow
He was far from a saint either in business or in politics and he does not deserve to be remembered as one.
Totally agree with your point but whats with the spelling of hippo critical?
Could you be a bit Pacific is one of my favs
Peter, nobody’s claiming he was a saint. But he clearly did a lot of good, as well as making some mistakes.
And he was never guilty of criticising hippos.
But he was determined to make the North Atlantic pacific.
I doubt Albert ever considered himself a saint . Just ordinary , no college degree , loved his family and like all of us who lived through those times despaired of the daily death count in Northern Irl , he choose the unorthodox route at the time and his instinct proved correct , a wonderful man who spoke with all sides when others in power were worried about how it would affect their careers RIP Albert
A complete waste of taxpayers money
Agreed Sheila, a multi-millionaire on €149,000 of a state pension, and we still get stiffed for the funeral, still be thankful for small mercies, at least Kathleen will only cost us €74,500 a year, one fool of a country.
What a pitiful man you seem to be Mr. Kennedy. Hope you get the respect you deserve when you die.
@Kennady
You are one sick cretin.
I am sure I will, and you can rest assured I will not expect my fellow citizens to pick up the tab for my funeral.
Better a sick cretin than a fool, will we be handed the bill for Bertie Ahern’s funeral as well, you bet we will, one fool of a country.
It’s always a strange one when you see the archbishop at funerals of high profile people… I would prefer to see him officiating at the funerals of poor people to be honest… all respect is due to Albert Reynolds and his family as individuals, but I am not so sure about the state eulogising people just because they held a certain office – after all, those posts are paid. Cue praise for the years of ‘service’ – personally I don’t think that doing a job you want to do for a very good salary should be called ‘service’… the legions of people doing voluntary work up and down the country are doing a ‘service’ to society.
Ah well, never mind, condolences to Mr. Reynold’s family – we all know how it feels to lose somebody…
Totally agree with you Michelle.
Haven’t met a saint yet can you tell me where they hang out , leaders make the hard decisions and that what Albert was we could do with more across the board regardless of their political leanings
That Fr Darcy sure does go on and on and on . The last time I saw him was on the back of a truck singing the praises of Sean Quinn and his family
Class act
Jeez… Can’t believe the mean-spirited comments on here. A bit inappropriate considering the man isn’t even buried yet.
Sir ‘@ when your are dead the state own you
Dear god, would they not get the cameras off the family…
One or two of them are judges wow ..the inner circle
I see Beverly copper tin and 3 houses Padraig at the church I bet they will be at the Four seasons hotel for the big scoff and drinks afterwards
Beautiful ceremony, truly fitting for a decent and honourable man, who put peace above personal gain.
That priest Darcy has the gift of the gab he even got a round of applause for John Major
Paint and dry springs to mind.
At least he gets away with the ice bucket challenge!
Wasn’t funny the first time.
At least he gets away with the ice bucket challenge!
State funeral , all laughing going on out side church , we. Hav lot to learn how UK do a state funeral
Great to see some many friends in one place in donnybrook!…
Absolute bollocks that the state paid for this yet they cut the bereavement grant.
“I see you dancing father” is a beautiful poem written for my grandfather, may the family find some comfort today. At times like this they are just people like the rest of us who have lost someone they loved.
I respect the passing of someone who was involved in public life but this whole state funeral thing is a joke. Pay for the funeral if you like but not with my money.
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