THOUSANDS of mourners lined the streets of Derry yesterday for the funeral of former Northern Ireland deputy first minister and IRA commander Martin McGuinness.

The veteran Sinn Fein politician’s beloved Bogside came to a standstill as his remains — the coffin draped in the Irish tricolour — were carried to St Columba’s Church, behind a lone piper.

Ex-US president Bill Clinton and former first ministers Peter Robinson and Arlene Foster — both of the Democratic Unionist Party — were among those attending the requiem mass.

Irish President Michael D Higgins and his predecessor Mary McAleese also attended the funeral, as did Taoiseach Enda Kenny and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

Chief celebrant Father Michael Canny said the presence of politicians from across the sectarian divide was “the most eloquent testimony” to his legacy as a peacemaker.

“There are people in this church today whose presence would have been unthinkable only a generation ago,” he said.