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Funeral of peacemaker Fr Des Wilson takes place in west Belfast

 

Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday. Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton Expand
09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton Expand
09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton Expand
09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton Expand
09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton Expand
09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton Expand
09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton Expand
09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton Expand
09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton Expand
Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton Expand
PACEMAKER PRESS BELFAST 9/11/2019 Funeral of Father Des Wilson today in Belfast. The peacemaker and community activist was 94 when he died on November 5th. He was heavily involved in the development of the Springhill and Ballymurphy community associations during the darkest days of the Troubles and was hailed a ‘champion of the people’. Sinn Fein Northern leader Michelle O’Neill (front left) Photo Laura Davison/Pacemaker Press Expand
PACEMAKER PRESS BELFAST 9/11/2019 Funeral of Father Des Wilson today in Belfast. The peacemaker and community activist was 94 when he died on November 5th. He was heavily involved in the development of the Springhill and Ballymurphy community associations during the darkest days of the Troubles and was hailed a ‘champion of the people’. Photo Laura Davison/Pacemaker Press Expand
PACEMAKER PRESS BELFAST 9/11/2019 Funeral of Father Des Wilson today in Belfast. The peacemaker and community activist was 94 when he died on November 5th. He was heavily involved in the development of the Springhill and Ballymurphy community associations during the darkest days of the Troubles and was hailed a ‘champion of the people’. Sinn Fein Northern leader Michelle O’Neill (front left) Photo Laura Davison/Pacemaker Press Expand
PACEMAKER PRESS BELFAST 9/11/2019 Funeral of Father Des Wilson today in Belfast. The peacemaker and community activist was 94 when he died on November 5th. He was heavily involved in the development of the Springhill and Ballymurphy community associations during the darkest days of the Troubles and was hailed a ‘champion of the people’. Photo Laura Davison/Pacemaker Press Expand
PACEMAKER BELFAST 4 Sept 2016 - Father Des Wilson, who supported Mother Teresa's presence in Belfast at a time when senior church figures were less welcoming, pictured during a "Saint who lived in our street" prayer service at Springhill in west Belfast where the nun was based in the early 1970s. Expand
PACEMAKER BELFAST BELFAST PRIEST FATHER DES WILSON Expand
PACEMAKER BELFAST BELFAST PRIEST FATHER DES WILSON (left) WITH SINN FEIN MEMBERS AT A SHOOT TO KILL RALLY Expand

Father Des Wilson funeral [photos] Close

Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday. Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday. Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

09/11/2019 Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday.A prominent campaigner and community activist, over six decades Fr Wilson played a hugely influential role in the lives of countless people in his adopted area of Ballymurphy. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday. Mandatory Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

PACEMAKER PRESS BELFAST 9/11/2019 Funeral of Father Des Wilson today in Belfast. The peacemaker and community activist was 94 when he died on November 5th. He was heavily involved in the development of the Springhill and Ballymurphy community associations during the darkest days of the Troubles and was hailed a ‘champion of the people’. Sinn Fein Northern leader Michelle O’Neill (front left) Photo Laura Davison/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER PRESS BELFAST 9/11/2019 Funeral of Father Des Wilson today in Belfast. The peacemaker and community activist was 94 when he died on November 5th. He was heavily involved in the development of the Springhill and Ballymurphy community associations during the darkest days of the Troubles and was hailed a ‘champion of the people’. Sinn Fein Northern leader Michelle O’Neill (front left) Photo Laura Davison/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER PRESS BELFAST 9/11/2019 Funeral of Father Des Wilson today in Belfast. The peacemaker and community activist was 94 when he died on November 5th. He was heavily involved in the development of the Springhill and Ballymurphy community associations during the darkest days of the Troubles and was hailed a ‘champion of the people’. Photo Laura Davison/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER PRESS BELFAST 9/11/2019 Funeral of Father Des Wilson today in Belfast. The peacemaker and community activist was 94 when he died on November 5th. He was heavily involved in the development of the Springhill and Ballymurphy community associations during the darkest days of the Troubles and was hailed a ‘champion of the people’. Photo Laura Davison/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER PRESS BELFAST 9/11/2019 Funeral of Father Des Wilson today in Belfast. The peacemaker and community activist was 94 when he died on November 5th. He was heavily involved in the development of the Springhill and Ballymurphy community associations during the darkest days of the Troubles and was hailed a ‘champion of the people’. Sinn Fein Northern leader Michelle O’Neill (front left) Photo Laura Davison/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER PRESS BELFAST 9/11/2019 Funeral of Father Des Wilson today in Belfast. The peacemaker and community activist was 94 when he died on November 5th. He was heavily involved in the development of the Springhill and Ballymurphy community associations during the darkest days of the Troubles and was hailed a ‘champion of the people’. Sinn Fein Northern leader Michelle O’Neill (front left) Photo Laura Davison/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER PRESS BELFAST 9/11/2019 Funeral of Father Des Wilson today in Belfast. The peacemaker and community activist was 94 when he died on November 5th. He was heavily involved in the development of the Springhill and Ballymurphy community associations during the darkest days of the Troubles and was hailed a ‘champion of the people’. Photo Laura Davison/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER PRESS BELFAST 9/11/2019 Funeral of Father Des Wilson today in Belfast. The peacemaker and community activist was 94 when he died on November 5th. He was heavily involved in the development of the Springhill and Ballymurphy community associations during the darkest days of the Troubles and was hailed a ‘champion of the people’. Photo Laura Davison/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER BELFAST 4 Sept 2016 - Father Des Wilson, who supported Mother Teresa's presence in Belfast at a time when senior church figures were less welcoming, pictured during a "Saint who lived in our street" prayer service at Springhill in west Belfast where the nun was based in the early 1970s.

PACEMAKER BELFAST 4 Sept 2016 - Father Des Wilson, who supported Mother Teresa's presence in Belfast at a time when senior church figures were less welcoming, pictured during a "Saint who lived in our street" prayer service at Springhill in west Belfast where the nun was based in the early 1970s.

PACEMAKER BELFAST BELFAST PRIEST FATHER DES WILSON

PACEMAKER BELFAST BELFAST PRIEST FATHER DES WILSON

PACEMAKER BELFAST BELFAST PRIEST FATHER DES WILSON (left) WITH SINN FEIN MEMBERS AT A SHOOT TO KILL RALLY

PACEMAKER BELFAST BELFAST PRIEST FATHER DES WILSON (left) WITH SINN FEIN MEMBERS AT A SHOOT TO KILL RALLY

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Mourners and friends pictured at the Funeral for Father Des Wilson who passed away on Tuesday. Credit Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

The funeral of community activist and peacemaker Fr Des Wilson has taken place at Corpus Christi Church in west Belfast.

Fr Wilson, who died this week at the age of 94, was well-known for setting up the Springhill Community House in Ballymurphy and educating young disadvantaged people.

Hundreds turned out for his funeral on Saturday morning.

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Fr Wilson was brought up in the Ormeau Road and spent some 54 years as a cleric in west Belfast.

He was spiritual director at St Malachy's before moving to St John's Parish.

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Fr Wilson also worked tirelessly for peace, and with the late Fr Alec Reid he tried to mediate between various republican groups and to attempt dialogue with loyalist paramilitaries.

Speaking after his death, former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said: "He was hugely respected and loved as a priest, a community activist, an educator, a defender of people’s rights, an author, dramatist and writer.

"He was also a man of great courage, a good neighbour, and a decent human being."

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