President Mary McAleese has led the mourners at the removal of the late Fianna Fáil minister Brian Lenihan this evening.
Mr Lenihan’s remains were in repose at Jennings funeral home in Blanchardstown today before their removal to St Mochta’s Church, Porterstown.
Among those attending the removal were Mr Lenihan's aunt, Mary O'Rourke; Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore; Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin; former taoisigh Liam Cosgrave, Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen; former Fine Gael leader Alan Dukes; former Fianna Fáil ministers John O'Donoghue and Charlie McCreevy; and broadcaster Henry Kelly.
EU commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, former Progressive Democrats leader Des O'Malley, and Ictu general secretary David Begg were also present.
Chief Justice John Murray; High Court president Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, and Mrs Justice Fidelma Macken attended, as did a number of other High Court and District Court judges.
Mr Lenihan will be buried tomorrow in a private ceremony in St David’s Church graveyard, Kilsallaghan, after 11am Mass.
Earlier today, hundreds of people visited Government Buildings on Merrion Square in Dublin today to sign a book of condolence for Mr Lenihan.
Another book of condolence is open for members of the public to sign at the civic offices in Athlone, Co Westmeath until 4pm each day until next Friday.
At Government Buildings, Dymps Carton from Clonskeagh said she admired Mr Lenihan greatly, despite having some political differences.
"I wouldn’t have been a supporter of his party at all but I thought that he showed admirable courage in the situation that he was put in and I have the greatest respect for him for that," she said. "I’m sorry really that he was so entrenched in Fianna Fáil and couldn’t spread his qualities over other parties."
Seán Sherwin, a Fianna Fáil activist and former TD, said he was shocked by how quickly Mr Lenihan passed away.
"[He was] a brilliant man with great experience of the political and legal side," Mr Sherwin said. "You’d have to be on your toes to interest him and he was so quick to get to the core of problems whether they were political or legal...He leaves a great legacy with regard to his contribution to Ireland and I don’t think it will be matched easily by anyone."
Willie Revins from Baldoyle said he had fond memories of Mr Lenihan from his job in the Dáil restaurant. "I admired that gentleman very much over his time in office," he said.
French minister for finance Christine Lagarde yesterday described Mr Lenihan as “heroic” and a political figure to whom history will be kind.
She said the former minister for finance, who died on Friday from pancreatic cancer, was “calm, solid and very analytical when we had major issues”.
Ms Lagarde, who is a strong candidate to become the next head of the International Monetary Fund, said that since the beginning of the economic crisis, all ministers for finance had tough jobs and tough decisions to make.
“He was as good as you can think,” she added. “He was extremely good for the country.”
Mr Lenihan, she said, kept coming to meetings from the day he had announced he was suffering from cancer. “Sometimes he looked a little fragile and a little bit frail, but it did not ever stop him making the point and arguing his case and defending Ireland,” said Ms Lagarde.
She had sometimes wondered how he was holding up because he had lost a lot of weight. “Until the very last day, he was on board,” she said.
Ms Lagarde said it was “a bit of a shock” when Mr Lenihan rang her in September 2008 to tell her about the bank guarantee. It was in the early morning, she was still at home, and Mr Lenihan told her he had no option but to do what he was doing.
“I immediately thought, oh my gosh, this is going to be a major issue to address and to deal with, because clearly other countries around are going to suffer from that and we are going to have to react collectively,” she added. “Again, he was extremely honest, open and blunt about it.”
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin said yesterday Mr Lenihan had a great capacity to absorb detail and an ability to understand the most complicated issues “and to communicate them effectively in a way which the rest of us would deeply envy. He will be sorely missed because he brought a freshness to political debate. He encouraged it in a way that many would shrink from”.