The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, was among the attendance at one of the largest funerals the parish of Achill, Co Mayo, has witnessed when Mr Denis Gallagher, a former minister for the Gaeltacht, was laid to rest in Polranny Cemetery yesterday.
Mr Gallagher, who retired from politics in 1989, passed away at Mayo General Hospital on Saturday after a brief illness. He was 78.
Mourners included the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Dr Tom Moffett; Ms Mary Coughlan, Minister of State with responsibility for Arts, Heritage and the Islands; two former EU Commissioners, Mr Padraig Flynn and Mr Ray MacSharry; former Connacht Ulster MEP, Mr Mark Killilea, and former West Mayo TD and Senator, Mr Martin Joe O'Toole.
The Archbishop of Tuam, Dr Michael Neary, presided at the funeral Mass. The main celebrant was Father Patrick Gilligan, PP, Achill, assisted by one of Mr Gallagher's brothers, Father Michael Gallagher.
In his homily, Father Gilligan, a friend of Mr Gallagher, praised him for unifying the Gaeltacht and non-Gaeltacht parts of the parish into a single, cohesive voice for development. The main mourners at yesterday's funeral were Mr Gallagher's widow, Hannah, and their children.