Finish the peace building of Martin McGuinness, Clinton urges leaders
The former Northern Ireland deputy first minister died from a rare heart condition on Tuesday.
Former US president Bill Clinton has made an impassioned plea for people to finish the peace building of Martin McGuinness.
Thousands of people thronged the streets of Londonderry’s Bogside as the veteran Sinn Fein figure’s funeral took place in St Columba’s Church.
Mr Clinton and ex-Democratic Unionist Stormont first ministers Peter Robinson and Arlene Foster were among those attending Thursday’s requiem mass.
Looking down on a coffin draped in an Irish Tricolour, the former US president, who was central to the Good Friday Agreement negotiations, implored today’s leaders to pick up where Mr McGuinness left off.
“He persevered and he prevailed. He risked the wrath of his comrades and the rejection of his adversaries,” Mr Clinton said.
“He made honourable compromises and was strong enough to keep them and came to be trusted because his word was good.
“And he never stopped being who he was. A good husband, a good father, a follower of the faith of his father and mother and a passionate believer in a free, secure, self-governing Ireland.
“The only thing that happened was that he shrank the definition of ‘us’ and expanded the definition of ‘them’.”
Mr Clinton added: “Our friend earned this vast crowd today. Even more, he earned the right to ask us to honour his legacy by our living. To finish the work that is there to be done.”
Mr Clinton spoke briefly with the McGuinness family after his passionate eulogy and touched the coffin as he walked by.
Mr McGuinness’s beloved Bogside neighbourhood came to a standstill as his coffin was walked to St Columba’s Church, led by a lone piper.
After the service, thousands followed the coffin of Mr McGuinness onward to the republican plot of the city cemetery.
Elected members of Sinn Fein formed a guard of honour as he was carried on his final journey.
Irish President Michael D Higgins and his predecessor, Mary McAleese, attended the funeral, as did Taoiseach Enda Kenny and former Irish premiers Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen.
Northern Ireland’s police chief, George Hamilton, was also there.
Ahead of the service, Mr McGuinness’s beloved Bogside neighbourhood came to a standstill as his remains – the coffin draped in the Irish Tricolour – were walked to St Columba’s Church, led by a lone piper.
Bishop Donal McKeown, Bishop of Derry, opened requiem mass by welcoming dignitaries, public figures and politicians from Ireland, Britain and the US.
He then turned to the McGuinness family and said: “For you, this is not the funeral of a public figure.
“This is a funeral of a husband, father and a grandfather and our first thoughts are inevitably with you.”
He thanked those who had been involved in securing the Good Friday Agreement who travelled for the mass, including from within Northern Ireland and the Republic and Britain and the US.
“It’s a tribute to those who didn’t just talk the talk but walked the walk of implementing the Good Friday Agreement that all three of those strands are so well represented here,” he told mourners.
