Fr Alec Reid Remembered: ‘A peace-maker who believed in human dignity’

A priest who carried secret letters between the IRA and politicians believed dialogue was the most powerful way of resolving conflict, mourners at his funeral Mass were told.

Fr Alec Reid, 82, died in a Dublin hospital last week.

As well as his efforts to end the 30-year Troubles, the Redemptorist tried to save two soldiers shot dead in West Belfast by the IRA in 1988 after they became trapped at a republican funeral — a photo of him praying for the dying men became world famous.