A LOW-KEY FUNERAL FOR COLLINS
A low-key funeral for Collins
Informant's mourners outnumbered by media
MURDERED IRA informer Eamon Collins was laid to rest yesterday after a low-key funeral attended by fewer than 100 mourners.
Only the former terrorist's wife Bernie, four young children and closest family friends followed his coffin and there were none of the usual trappings of a republican funeral.
Collins, a self-confessed killer who blew the lid on the IRA in his 1996 book Killing Rage, was stabbed and bludgeoned as he took an early morning walk near his Newry home on Wednesday.
As the coffin made its way through the republican Barcroft estate where he lived, it passed a memorial to "brave" IRA men killed in the Troubles.
A few people stood in their doorways to watch the cortege pass by, but there were more camera crews and photographers than mourners.
Mrs Collins, clearly distressed, had to be supported by friends. She clung to the hands of her daughters Sorcha and Aoife and reached out to comfort her sons Tiarnach and Lorcan.
An outspoken critic of the Provisional IRA, Collins was loathed by his former republican comrades and the only politician present was SDLP councillor Pat Toner.
Inside St Catherine's church in Newry town, Father Peter McFarland criticised those who had used Collins's murder for political ends.
Fr McFarland said: "Eamon was in many ways unfortunate.
"These days as we listen to the news, we hear politicians use his death to suit themselves.
"Those who never knew him, many who didn't want to know him. would now use his death, a death which we must remember is above all a tragedy, a disaster for his wife and family."
The priest said too many families in Northern Ireland had suffered and he hoped all could now look to the future.
"We pray that this death, this pointless killing may be the last that any of us have to experience.
"Too many people have gathered as we do today, too many tears have been shed, too many children have lost parents, there's been too much suffering.
"May we take the word of the prophet to heart, as 70 per cent of the country did last May, and say yes, now is the time for peace?"
As police continued their investigation into the murder, the Real IRA issued a statement denying any part in the killing.
In a statement, the group, which declared a ceasefire three weeks after it admitted carrying out the Omagh bombing, denied all involvement, heightening suspicions that members of the Provisional IRA may have been responsible for the killing.
The murder has put the Government under renewed pressure to take action over the increasing level of terrorism in Northern Ireland.
First Minister David Trimble said ministers must now "grasp the nettle" and deal with the continuing violence.
Accusing the IRA of responsibility for the murder of Collins, Mr Trimble said: "The ceasefire has been broken."
Mr Trimble, who voted in the Commons on Wednesday night for an Opposition motion demanding a halt to early prisoner releases, said Ulster Secretary Mo Mowlam was now required to act.
"It's important for the Government to show through its actions that it is not turning a blind eye," said Mr Trimble.
Condemning the murder, he also criticised loyalists behind a pipe bomb attack on a Catholic family in Dungannon, Co Tyrone.
The Northern Ireland Office condemned the murder, and a spokesman said ministers were awaiting a report from police.
Informant's mourners outnumbered by media
MURDERED IRA informer Eamon Collins was laid to rest yesterday after a low-key funeral attended by fewer than 100 mourners.
Only the former terrorist's wife Bernie, four young children and closest family friends followed his coffin and there were none of the usual trappings of a republican funeral.
Collins, a self-confessed killer who blew the lid on the IRA in his 1996 book Killing Rage, was stabbed and bludgeoned as he took an early morning walk near his Newry home on Wednesday.
As the coffin made its way through the republican Barcroft estate where he lived, it passed a memorial to "brave" IRA men killed in the Troubles.
A few people stood in their doorways to watch the cortege pass by, but there were more camera crews and photographers than mourners.
Mrs Collins, clearly distressed, had to be supported by friends. She clung to the hands of her daughters Sorcha and Aoife and reached out to comfort her sons Tiarnach and Lorcan.
An outspoken critic of the Provisional IRA, Collins was loathed by his former republican comrades and the only politician present was SDLP councillor Pat Toner.
Inside St Catherine's church in Newry town, Father Peter McFarland criticised those who had used Collins's murder for political ends.
Fr McFarland said: "Eamon was in many ways unfortunate.
"These days as we listen to the news, we hear politicians use his death to suit themselves.
"Those who never knew him, many who didn't want to know him. would now use his death, a death which we must remember is above all a tragedy, a disaster for his wife and family."
The priest said too many families in Northern Ireland had suffered and he hoped all could now look to the future.
"We pray that this death, this pointless killing may be the last that any of us have to experience.
"Too many people have gathered as we do today, too many tears have been shed, too many children have lost parents, there's been too much suffering.
"May we take the word of the prophet to heart, as 70 per cent of the country did last May, and say yes, now is the time for peace?"
As police continued their investigation into the murder, the Real IRA issued a statement denying any part in the killing.
In a statement, the group, which declared a ceasefire three weeks after it admitted carrying out the Omagh bombing, denied all involvement, heightening suspicions that members of the Provisional IRA may have been responsible for the killing.
The murder has put the Government under renewed pressure to take action over the increasing level of terrorism in Northern Ireland.
First Minister David Trimble said ministers must now "grasp the nettle" and deal with the continuing violence.
Accusing the IRA of responsibility for the murder of Collins, Mr Trimble said: "The ceasefire has been broken."
Mr Trimble, who voted in the Commons on Wednesday night for an Opposition motion demanding a halt to early prisoner releases, said Ulster Secretary Mo Mowlam was now required to act.
"It's important for the Government to show through its actions that it is not turning a blind eye," said Mr Trimble.
Condemning the murder, he also criticised loyalists behind a pipe bomb attack on a Catholic family in Dungannon, Co Tyrone.
The Northern Ireland Office condemned the murder, and a spokesman said ministers were awaiting a report from police.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/191
Published Date: 30-Jan-99
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.