First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said that it was a “huge honour” to represent those who looked to the late Pope Francis for leadership by attending his funeral on Saturday. Ms O’Neill was seated alongside Scottish First Minister John Swinney as hundreds of dignitaries gathered in St Peter’s Square for the funeral mass of the late Pontiff.

The bells of St. Peter’s Basilica tolled to mark the end of the funeral Mass in Vatican City, where mourners joined in a final send-off for a pontiff celebrated as a champion of the poor.