PRESIDENT MARY McAleese and Dr Martin McAleese will be among the mourners at the State funeral of former taoiseach Dr Garret FitzGerald tomorrow at the Sacred Heart Church in Donnybrook, Dublin.
All members of the Oireachtas have been invited. They will be led by Taoiseach Enda Kenny and other members of the Government.
The judiciary will also be present in large numbers, as well as members of the Council of State, the body of presidential advisers which included Dr FitzGerald among its members, as well as members of the diplomatic corps.
There will be an opportunity at the Mansion House today for members of the public to file past the coffin where Dr FitzGerald will be lying in repose from 11am to 7pm.
Books of condolence, which were open yesterday at a number of locations, will be open for signature at the Oak Room and under an open-air canopy outside the lord mayor’s residence.
The removal of the remains from the Mansion House to the church in Donnybrook takes place at 7.45pm this evening. Details of the route were still being finalised last night.
After the 8pm service (until 10.30pm, when the Sacred Heart Church will close) there will be a further opportunity for members of the public to file past the coffin and to offer their condolences to the family.
The Mass of Christian Burial at the Sacred Heart Church will get under way tomorrow at 2.30pm. Space in the church is limited and most of the seating will be reserved. Additionally, the Mass will be relayed outside the church.
The burial will take place at Shanganagh Cemetery, Old Bray Road, Shankill, Co Dublin. The funeral cortege is expected to arrive at about 4.30pm.
It is understood that there will be no graveside oration. Flags are being flown at half-mast on all Government Buildings until after the funeral.
Although it is officially a State funeral, it will also be very much a family occasion.
There will be minimal military trappings and the traditional volley of shots will not be fired over the grave.
Nor will there be the standard 100-member military marching body.
However, there will be military pallbearers and a piper. An Army motorcycle cavalcade will accompany the hearse to the church and the graveyard.
In the graveyard, an honour guard of soldiers with reversed arms will line the route from the gate of the cemetery to the graveside with their heads bowed.
At about 3:45pm the funeral cortege will proceed to Shanganagh Cemetery where Dr FitzGerald will be laid to rest alongside his wife Joan.
The President and Dr McAleese will also attend tonight’s removal service with senior Government figures, judges from the Supreme Court and the High Court as well as other dignitaries.
Tomorrow’s Mass will be attended by judges from the Supreme Court, the High Court, the Circuit Court and the District Court. An online book of condolence has been opened at www.taoiseach.gov.ie.
