Thousands have lined the streets of Martin McGuinness’ home town for the funeral of the Irish Republican Army commander who became a cornerstone of Northern Ireland’s peace.

Former US President Bill Clinton was among the key figures from the peace process who travelled to pay their respects to the nationalist Sinn Fein politician, who died on Tuesday at the age of 66 from a rare heart condition.

McGuinness remains a figure of hate for many pro-British Protestants in Northern Ireland for his senior role in the IRA, which killed over 1,600 people in three decades of violence aimed at breaking Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and uniting it with the Irish Republic.

But he is a hero to others for defending his community from what was seen as a hostile British state, and for his role as one of the lead negotiators in the 1998 peace deal that largely ended the violence.

Former US President Bill Clinton speaks during the funeral. (Photo: Reuters)

“After all the breath he expended cursing the British, he worked with two prime ministers and shook hands with the Queen,” Clinton, whose hands-on role was central to brokering peace, told the 1,500 people packed into Saint Columba’s Church while others listened outside or watched on a big screen nearby.

“He persevered and he prevailed, he risked the wrath of his comrades and rejection of his adversaries. If you really came here to celebrate his life and honour the contribution of the last chapter of it, you have to finish his work.”

McGuinness’ coffin, draped in the Irish tricolour flag, earlier left his house in the Catholic Bogside neighbourhood of Londonderry, near the spot where British soldiers opened fire at a crowd of Catholic protesters on “Bloody Sunday” in 1972, killing 13.

It was carried part of the way by Sinn Fein members including Gerry Adams, past murals commemorating the Bloody Sunday victims and jailed IRA members who died on hunger strike a decade later – major turning points in the sectarian conflict.

Led by pipers playing traditional Irish music and followed by a sea of mourners, many dressed in black with white lily pins, the procession passed houses flying the tricolour from their windows. Some shouted “our hero” as the coffin passed.

– Reuters