Funeral held for Monsignor Faul

The funeral has today taken place for Catholic clergyman and Human Rights campaigner, Monsignor Denis Faul.

Monsignor Faul, 74, died on Wednesday at the Bon Secours Hospital in Dublin following a lengthy battle with cancer.

Earlier today, church leaders, along with politicians attended Requiem Mass at St Columcille's in County Tyrone, to pay their last respects to the prominent figure.

Monsignor Faul first hit the spotlight in 1968 after taking part in a march demanding civil rights for Catholics in Northern Ireland.

In the 1970's he became renowned for his outspokenness against the infringement of human rights, and also for speaking out against paramilitary violence from both sides of the divide.

However, he was probably most noted for his role during the 1981 hunger strikes, when he attempted to save the lives of the ten men who died the Maze Prison.

During this time, the Monsignor argued that the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher would not be swayed by the action and that the deaths would be in vain.

He then spoke with Gerry Adams, who effectively told the prisoners that the republican movement called for an end to the campaign. However, when the prisoners refused, the Monsignor called upon the families to intervene.

Some time later, Monsignor Faul campaigned for the release of the Birmingham six and the Guildford Four, who were all wrongly convicted of IRA bombings.

During today's service, mourners heard that as he lay dying, he made his last appeal to the IRA to reveal where it had buried the bodies of those known as the Disappeared.

Monsignor Faul was buried in the cemetery next to St Columcille's church.

(EF/SP)