FitzGerald mourned by thousands

Garret FitzGerald

Garret FitzGerald was taoiseach at the time of the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement

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Thousands of mourners, including the president of Ireland, have paid their respects to former Irish Prime Minister Garret FitzGerald.

He died this week in Dublin after a short illness.

Mr FitzGerald, who was 85, served twice as taoiseach between 1981 and 1987 at the head of two coalition governments

His body has now been removed from the Mansion House in Dublin to the Sacred Heart Church in Donnybrook.

A state funeral will take place on Sunday with mass at 1430 BST before burial at Shanganagh Cemetery.

Mr FitzGerald was taoiseach at the time of the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985.

He retired from the Dail in 1992, but still took part in political campaigns, particularly on the Nice and Lisbon Treaties.

A former economics lecturer, he was elected to the Seanad (the Irish Senate) in 1965 and the Dail in 1969.

When Fine Gael entered government in 1973 Mr FitzGerald was appointed foreign affairs minister.

He also played a leading role in the Sunningdale Agreement negotiations which led to the short-lived power-sharing executive in Northern Ireland.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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