Hundreds at removal of guardsman

Hundreds of mourners attended the removal yesterday of the remains of Lance Cpl Ian Malone, the Dublin-born soldier killed earlier this month while serving with the British army during the war in Iraq.

The Church of the Assumption, Ballyfermot, Dublin was full for the service, and the attendance included members of the deceased's Irish Guards regiment, in civilian clothes. A number of British ex-servicemen were also present. But there was no flag on the coffin and no military display during the short, low-key ceremony. The Government was formally represented by the Fianna Fáil Dublin South West TD, Mr Charlie O'Connor, whose father served in the Irish Guards during the second World War, and who had met Lance Cpl Malone at a regimental function. Local Fine Gael TD, Mr Gay Mitchell, was also among the mourners.

The parish priest of Ballyfermot, Father Joe Kett said he had not known the 28-year-old soldier personally: "But the tributes paid to him since his death - I'd love if they were said about me when I go." Friends and family had spoken of someone who was "so full of life, so energetic, so kind, so talented. A wonderful young man". The priest offered his sympathy to the deceased's parents May and Joe Malone, to his younger brother Edward, and his sisters Michelle, Debbie, and Carol.

He particularly sympathised with Edward on the loss of "a very special brother" and added that he had "a lot to look up to". He also sympathised with the Irish Guards present on the "great loss" of their friend and comrade.

Father Kett - who was accompanied on the altar by the regiment's Catholic chaplain, Father Andrew Lloyd - read an extract from the Book of Wisdom on "the premature death of the virtuous man," including the lines: "Length of days is not what makes age honourable, nor number of years the true measure of life; understanding, this is man's grey hairs, untarnished life, this is ripe old age."

Earlier, family members had carried the coffin into the church, where a wreath, a single rose and a framed photograph of the deceased were placed on it. The many floral tributes left at the church included a shamrock-shaped bouquet "to our dear brother". The Irish Seamen's Relatives Association left a wreath with green, white and orange ribbons, while a poppy wreath was from the Irish Guards Association, "West Midlands Branch".

The funeral Mass takes place this morning at 11 a.m. and will include some military trappings, with both the Irish and British armies involved. The Defence Forces will be represented by a piper, alternating with a piper from the Irish Guards, while the FCA will have a colour party to honour their former member. The coffin will be carried from the church by a colour party of the Irish Guards. After stopping outside Lance Cpl Malone's home in Ballyfermot, the cortege will proceed to Palmerstown Cemetery.