Northern Ireland

Hundreds gather for Declan McGlinchey's funeral in Bellaghy

The funeral of Co Derry republican Declan McGlinchey at St Mary's Church, Bellaghy 
The funeral of Co Derry republican Declan McGlinchey at St Mary's Church, Bellaghy  The funeral of Co Derry republican Declan McGlinchey at St Mary's Church, Bellaghy 

Hundreds of people have turned out for the funeral of high-profile republican Declan McGlinchey.

Mr McGlinchey (39) who was the son of INLA gunman Dominic McGlinchey, died suddenly of a suspected heart attack at his home in Bellaghy late on Sunday night.

Requiem Mass was celebrated in the Church of St Mary's in his home village at 11am followed by internment in the adjoining cemetery.

Mr McGlinchey, a member of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP), had been arrested along with his brother Dominic about the murders of Sappers Mark Quinsey and Cenqiz Patrick Azimkar at Massereene Barracks in 2009, but was released without charge

In recent years he had become involved in campaigning on behalf of dissident republican prisoners.

Declan's uncle Sean McGlinchey described earlier this week how the family have been left devastated.

He said his nephew had moved on with his life and wanted to contribute to the peace process.

Declan and his brother Dominic hail from a well-known republican family and have been hit by tragedy from a young age.

Their father Dominic McGlinchey snr - a high-profile member of the INLA and one the most wanted men in Ireland - was murdered in February 1994.

He was killed at a phone box in Drogheda when two men got out of a vehicle and shot him 14 times.

An inquest into his death in November 1996 heard claims that the UVF could have been involved in the murder.