Dale Moore, committed republican fighter and activist, laid to rest in Derry

THE RESPECT with which IRA Volunteer Dale Moore is held was obvious in the ‘send off’ the Derryman was given by the republican family as he was laid to rest in the City Cemetery on Thursday.

A guard of honour flanked the coffin which was draped in the national flag and on which rested Dale’s beret and gloves.

Dale’s final journey took him from his family home, followed by his family and a large number of mourners.

When the cortege arrived at the Long Tower Chapel for Requiem Mass, a guard of honour made up of scores of former prisoners, Sinn Féin activists and members of Derry’s republican youth organisation lined the street leading to the church.

After Mass, the funeral procession made its way to the City Cemetery where Dale was laid to rest close to his friend and comrade, Jim Kelly, who died earlier this year.

Dale, who passed away after a short illness on Sunday 11 December, was well-known and respected throughout Ireland. 

His work in the Sinn Féin Press Office at Stormont brought him into contact with activists from all corners of the country and their presence in Derry was testament to the impact he had on them. 

However, it was his involvement in the republican struggle down the decades as an IRA Volunteer and later as a Sinn Féin activist that earned him the respect of so many.

Amongst the mourners were staff and former staff from An Phoblacht, where Dale used to be a columnist, another voluntary commitment that he cheerfully gave to the cause he believed so much in.

● Dale’s sister, Patricia (herself a former POW) carries Dale’s beret and gloves and the national flag that draped her brother's coffin, as Martina Anderson MEP stands with her

In his graveside oration, Sinn Féin stalwart Mitchel McLaughlin said that Dale, like many of his peers, stood up with courage and determination for what they believed in.

Mitchel praised Dale who, despite his failing health, turned up for work in the Sinn Féin Press Office with his portable oxygen machine.

“He didn’t complain, he got on with what needed done,” said Mitchel McLaughlin in a sentence that summed up the life and character of this courageous, dedicated, good-natured, lifelong republican activist.