The majority of the Fine Gael parliamentary party, led by the leader, Mr John Bruton, attended the burial in Grange, Co Tipperary, on Saturday of South Tipperary Fine Gael TD Theresa Ahearn, who died on Wednesday after a long illness.
Also present were the President, Mrs McAleese, and her husband, Martin; the Tanaiste, Ms Harney; the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith; the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell; and the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food, Mr Noel Davern, a constituency colleague of the late TD.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, who attended the removal of the remains on Friday evening, was represented by his aide-de-camp, Comdt Michael Kiernan.
St Nicholas Church in Grange, six miles from Clonmel, was full for the Requiem Mass, with the overflow congregation accommodated in the nearby parish hall. The chief celebrant of the concelebrated Mass was Father Eanna Condon, parish priest of Dunmore East, Co Waterford, a friend of the Ahearn family. The Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Dr William Lee, presided.
In his homily, Father Condon paid tribute to Ms Ahearn's career as a politician.
He said politics had suffered because the shadow cast by a few politicians had been visited on the majority. "This scattershot of condemnation is unfair to politicians such as Theresa Ahearn."
In a graveside oration, Mr Bruton said Ms Ahearn had always put people first during her political career. "She believed that good personal relations, mutual respect and affection were the prerequisites for any useful political action. Being kind to people came before any political programme. Theresa Ahearn put that belief into practice."
He said Ms Ahearn had been the first woman TD since 1966 to die in the service of the people. It wasn't an "easy station" to be a woman in politics but the achievements of the President, the Tanaiste and the Fine Gael deputy leader, Ms Nora Owen, all of whom were present, was an encouragement and inspiration for Ms Ahearn. Earlier this year Ms Ahearn was the first woman to become a trustee of Fine Gael.
Ms Ahearn is survived by her husband, Liam, sons Patrick (22), Garret (21), Liam jnr (18) and Scott (13), as well as her brothers, John, Eddie and Gus, and her sisters, Ann Scott and Mary McGrane.