Former US President Bill Clinton spoke warmly of Martin McGuinness saying he was a man of his word
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 Derry’s Bogside as the veteran Sinn Féin figure’s funeral took place in St Columba’s Church.
It was the biggest funeral seen in the city since the deaths of 13 unarmed civilians were shot dead and murdered by British Paratroopers 45 years ago.
Mr McGuinness died on Tuesday at Alnagelvin Hospital following a short illness surrounded by is wife, two daughters and two sons.
He was aged 66.
Mr Clinton and ex-DUP 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.
Thousands and thousands of people turned out in Derry this afternoon to pay their respects to Martin McGuinness
“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.
President Michael D Higgins and his predecessor, Mary McAleese, also attended the funeral, as did Taoiseach Enda Kenny and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
There was a round of applause inside the church as Mrs Foster took her seat.
The Tricolour draped coffin of Martin McGuinness making its way from the Bogside to Long Tower Chapel for Requiem Mass
Former British prime minister Tony Blair did not travel to Derry for the ceremony, which he had been expected to attend.
Earlier at the Requiem Mass, Fr Michael Canny told the mourners who packed into St Columba’s chapel:
“We come here to this church this afternoon because Martin was also a man of faith. He believed in God and his faith was important to him.
“Prayer was very important to him. In Saint’s Paul’s second letter to Timothy, read in our second reading, the apostle said the time of his departure had come and he prepared to face the Lord, “the righteous judge”.
“He had finished the race. He had kept the faith.
“Martin, too, has finished the race. He, too, kept the faith. He, too, has come face to face with the righteous judge who judges all fairly.”
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams will deliver the graveside oration at the republican plot in Derry City Cemetery.
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