In memory of Albert Reynolds: ’A man who was rooted in the real’
From early afternoon on Saturday, a long queue stretched around the block from the Mansion House in Dublin city centre, where Mr Reynolds’s remains lay in repose.
The crowds included members of the public who travelled from Mr Reynolds’s native Longford, some who had come from the North, and even ambling shoppers in town who decided to pay their final respects.
Of the several thousand who passed through the house’s Oak Room around the open coffin, many wanted to say thanks for the lasting peace process the two-time taoiseach had helped leave behind.
Others regarded him as “a great servant” of the Longford- Westmeath constituency, where Mr Reynolds was a TD for 25 years.
Personal messages were left in the books of condolences, which lay beside a simple black and white portrait photograph of a smiling Mr Reynolds.
Later, his remains were escorted by the Defence Forces to the Church of the Sacred Heart in Donnybrook.
Mourners, military, and the media came to a standstill, as did the traffic on the N11, as the evening sunshine poured down on the tricolour-covered coffin.
Looking on, Mr Reynolds’s wife Kathleen, his five daughters and two sons, and his grandchildren stood together in a calm and mournful silence as his remains were carried by a bearer party from the Defence Forces into the church grounds.
A steady stream of politicians, business figures, and friends had earlier gone inside.
These included Taoiseach Enda Kenny, and former taoisigh Brian Cowen, Bertie Ahern, and John Bruton. Former EU commissioners Charlie McCreevy and Michael O’Kennedy, who served as ministers with Mr Reynolds in government, also attended the removal.
Other former ministers present included Michael Woods, Niamh Bhreathnach, Frank Fahy, Pat Carey, and Fianna Fáil’s former general secretary Pat Farrell. Party leader Micheál Martin was also in attendance.
Other Oireachtas figures, members of the judiciary, councillors, and diplomats also attended.
Local parish priest Monsignor Lorcan O’Brien told mourners that Mr Reynolds had been a man who “wholeheartedly engaged with the realities of his life and engaged with passion, with purpose, with courage”.
“This evening we welcome to his parish church in death a man who was rooted in the real,” said Msg O’Brien. “The realities of his life, his roots in Rooskey and Longford in the Reynolds family, work, business, music, the love of his life, Kathleen his wife, his seven children, Miriam, Philip, Emer, Leonie, Albert, Cathy, and Andrea and their families; his political life, as TD his service of the state as minister in a variety of departments and finally taoiseach.
“We mourn his death. We give thanks for the gift of the man that he was and for the much that he achieved. We honour his memory. We acknowledge our loss. We pray for him, for his family, and for ourselves.”
He also praised the “love, respect, and care” the Reynolds’s family provided to him in his final days.
Former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds will be laid to rest today after his funeral Mass, which will be attended by political, judicial, and diplomatic figures as well as friends and family.
The 81-year-old died last week after a prolonged illness and tributes have been paid to him by former presidents among others, in recent days.
Former British prime minister John Major, who progressed the North’s peace process in the 1990s with Mr Reynolds, will be among those at the state funeral today.
The remains of the former taoiseach lay in repose in Dublin’s Mansion House at the weekend and were afterwards removed to a church in Donnybrook, south Dublin, for a short ceremony.
Flags have flown at half-mast in Government buildings in recent days, while books of condolences have also been opened in a number of departments, the GPO, Fianna Fáil’s HQ, and online.
The funeral Mass will be held at 12pm at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Donnybrook today. Those attending are advised that seating will be limited.
However, RTÉ will broadcast the ceremony on television, radio, and online and the ceremony will also be aired by speaker outside the church.
President Michael D Higgins, Taoiseach Enda Kenny, and the North’s secretary of state, Theresa Villiers, will be at the ceremony.
Political leaders from across parties, former taoisigh, members of the Oireachtas, former ministers, and former EU commissioners are expected to attend the state funeral.
Fr Brian D’Arcy, who was a friend of the late taoiseach, will be the chief celebrant at the Mass, which will also be attended by Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin.
Philip Reynolds, one of Mr Reynolds’ seven children, is expected to deliver the eulogy during the funeral.
Following the Mass, a Defence Force guard of honour will escort the hearse to Shanganagh Cemetery, in Shankill, Dublin.
The cortege is expected to arrive between 2pm and 2.30pm and some traffic restrictions can be expected in the area.
It remained unclear last night whether a gun salute will be arranged for the ceremony at the graveside.
Many tributes have been made to Mr Reynolds in recent days, including his role in the peace process.
Born in November 1932 in Rooskey, Co Roscommon, he was elected to the Dáil in 1977 and went on to become taoiseach in February 1992.
Former US president Bill Clinton said Mr Reynolds had worked hard and risked much to advance the peace process.
Mr Reynolds, who had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, is survived by his wife Kathleen, two sons, and five daughters.
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