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‘A DERRY LEGEND, he’s legendary.’
That play on words was spoken by one of the thousands of mourners who lined the streets, filled the verges and climbed the poles to say goodbye to one of their city’s most important sons.
Much has been spoken this week about how Martin McGuinness’ life was a journey.
The theme was touched upon numerous times during a funeral mass in which religions men of several denominations spoke warmly about the man christened with the papal name, James Pacelli McGuinness.
The journey that has been spoken about is his journey from civil rights agitator, to a feared paramilitary and ultimately to pragmatic peacemaker.
But it is his final journey made in a sun-blessed but numbingly cold spring day that truly shows the esteem in which he is held here.
In a city that was already in sombre mourning after burying Derry City FC captain Ryan McBride earlier in the day, the roads surrounding the Brandywell were a silent bustle of people wearing black and others in high-vis jackets directing cars.
Bogside
At the top of Westland Street which runs straight downhill into the heart of the Bogside, crowds began to gather at about 1pm in anticipation of the arrival of McGuinness’ funeral cortege.
The crowd was made up of people from all parts of Ulster and as well as other parts of Ireland. GAA crests from Kerry, Dublin and Mayo were all to be seen and the one uniting symbol seemed to be the Easter lily.
Easter will always have a special place in the heart of Irish republicans. From the 1916 rising which first proclaimed the Irish Republic to the Good Friday Agreement some eighty years later that has maintained a reasonably steady peace across the province since.
Easter is still three weeks away but it seemed fitting that this devout man, both religious and otherwise, be buried during this period.
Cortege
As the crowds continued to build along the street waiting for the coffin to be taken from his family home, a thin tape and an entire detail of Sinn Féin volunteers kept them at bay.
As the cortege approached down one of the many side streets, bagpipes began to play and the tricolour draped coffin came into view.
It provoked at first a silence before a spontaneous applause that grew louder.
No shouting, singing or any words, but a respectful applause that was repeated as the coffin made its hour-long journey past Free Derry corner and the Bloody Sunday Memorial to St Columba’s Church.
The coffin was carried by family, friends and comrades. Bernie McGuinness, widowed on Tuesday after 43 years of marriage could also be seen.
As the coffin reached the bottom of one hill and began to make its way up another towards the church, the feeling of sadness and respect was replaced by one of pride that the city had turned out for one of its own.
What was absent was any sense of bluster or showmanship. IRA funerals in the past were used to show defiance, this was not on display here.
Instead it felt like a local boy being shown around his old familiar haunt one more time and the town coming out to meet him.
As one mourner put it, ‘He lived just around the corner from me, I’ll just miss seeing him walk about the place.’
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What about introducing financial penalties along with increased sentences. Criminals paying substantial damages to victims of crime, even if that means seizing their assets or making them, in extreme cases, homeless. Holding parents responsible for their Under 16′s in order to minimise social crime. Violent rioters and social media outlets paying for burning buildings and garda cars etc instead of giving the taxpayer the bill. Hit them where it hurts most, just like they do to ‘victims’.
@BarryH: Not sure how the legal system works in that respect but wouldn’t that be a separate, civil case besides the criminal one to award a monetary fine?
@Athena: Most of the laws we have in place are leftovers from Brit rule. Irish ?legislators? couldn’t be bothered on updating them to suit modern society and then we have, as far as I can see, data protection rules, that seem to favour the people ie right / left wing criminals and social media sites, that aim to disrupt society instead of protecting society. If the legislators were doing their job they would make ‘exceptions’ to the laws.
E.G. The Gardai told Instagram to take down the online threats made to Simon Harris and give them the name of the culprit. Instagram replied that that would be in breach of the culprits rights. He is Taoiseach and can ‘ legislate’ Does Simon not think that the common man should be protected more than the criminal?????????
I want to feel sympathy for politicians who are abused but it is in their hands and their fault. They could save the taxpayer millions in libel cases.
About time, a huge step forward!!!!
For heinous cases involving fatalities of course the presiding Judge, having heard all the evidence, should be able to nominate/ sentence with a ‘minimal’ tariff
Life should mean life.
All well and good going forward,Helen nicely done. Maybe find somewhere to put criminals that get tru the revolving door!!!
And judges should be elected.
@AnthonyK: they are. We’ve devolved that role to our elected representatives. Or do you mean like the US system which has proven to more about politics then the rule of law?
@Paul C: Nolan??
There should be minimum sentecens for a lot more crimes. Now its a toss if you have judge Nolan for a suspended sentence or another one for a much harder punishment.
@hans vos: Just go online prior to your trial… he’ll prob give you a high five. A disgrace of an individual.
“minimum”—- not——’minumal’
@Buster Lawless: you’ll need to tell that to the likes of Judges Nolan and O’Donnell not us.
Ain’t much good if the likes of Martin Nolan won’t even lock them up on normal sentences!!
@Michael o connor: Don’t get me started… an absolute disgrace that he’s still on the Bar.
‘Life incommunicado’ in a communications age. I.e., never again permitted to use a phone, computer or any communication device. In this day and age, that would hurt. And take their shoes too. And toss their hair while you’re at it.
@Paul C: Judges should go before the electorate and show what they did to uphold the law and make the society better.
There’s no need for this, sure isn’t Dublin a safe city!
We need to build more prisons so criminals can be given proper sentences. Criminals with 50-100 previous conviction should not be walking the streets for a very long time. Also SA sentences in this country are an absolute joke. 8 years for rape is a ridiculous. I don’t blame some women for not reporting these crimes. Also we need far more consecutive sentences.
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