HUNDREDS of mourners have gathered to pay their final respects to senior republican Ted Howell, who died last week aged 78.
His funeral took place at his home in the Suffolk Road area, with Fr Gary Donegan officiating.
First Minister Michelle O'Neill was in attendance, along with former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and the party's current leader Mary Lou McDonald.
Seán Murray places the tricolour on Ted Howell's coffin
During his many years of activism Ted Howell played a leadership role in the evolution of republican politics.
He was part of the core group which managed Sinn Féin’s strategy in the early 1980s, including engagement with the SDLP in 1988 and the emergence of a peace strategy.
Mr Howell was central to the publication of two key policy documents ‘Scenario for Peace’ in 1987 and the ‘Towards a Lasting Peace in Ireland’ in 1992 – and central to all of the engagements with the Irish, British and US governments in the decades that followed.
He was a key part of the Sinn Féin negotiating team.
Gerry Adams was one of the mourners at Ted Howell's funeral
Ted Howell was also deeply involved in Sinn Féin’s international outreach and played an important role in the peace negotiations in the Basque country.
Despite ill-health in recent years, he was part of Sinn Féin's Uniting Ireland Committee.
Mr Howell is survived by his sons Proinnsias and Eamonn, daughter-in-laws Karen and Nora, and grandchildren Micéal, Caoimhe and Amelia. His burial took place at Milltown Cemetery.
