The funeral has taken place in County Antrim of the Ulster Unionist President, Sir Josias Cunningham, who died in a car crash in the North on Wednesday. At the service in the First Donegore Presbyterian Church, the mourners, who included First Minister David Trimble, heard that 66-year-old Mr Cunningham was a calming influence on his party.
Sir Josias came to prominence during the suspension of the Stormont Executive in February when he held Mr Trimble's post-dated letters of resignation, to be used if the British Government did not intervene in the row over decommissioning. The UUP President also presided over the crucial vote last November, which enabled the party to go into government with Sinn Féin.
