Body of soldier brought home for burial

The body of Lance Cpl Ian Malone, who was killed in combat in Iraq a fortnight ago, is being returned for burial in Dublin today.

Lance Cpl Malone's coffin is due to arrive at Dublin Airport on a commercial flight from London Heathrow this morning. It will then be transported to a funeral home near his home in Ballyfermot.

Security is expected to be tight for the funeral, which will be attended by senior representatives from the British army. However, his funeral will be a largely private family occasion, with only a small military input. Pipers from both the British and Irish armies will play at the interment.

The military attaché at the British embassy in Dublin, Col Paul Cummings, last night expressed gratitude to the Government for its assistance in facilitating a "simple, dignified, family funeral with input from Lance Cpl Malone's regimental colleagues".

Government permission was required for the attendance of uniformed British soldiers at the funeral.

After his family has had an opportunity to pay its last respects, Lance Cpl Malone's body will be removed tomorrow to the Church of the Assumption, Ballyfermot, arriving at 5 p.m. There will be no military aspect to the removal.

The local parish priest, Father Joe Kitt, will serve at the removal and funeral, assisted by Father Andrew Lloyd, the senior Catholic chaplain in the Guards division in London.

Lance Cpl Malone's funeral will take place at Palmerstown Cemetery after 11 a.m. Mass on Thursday. The coffin will not be draped in any military or regimental flag.

A bearer party made up of friends from the 1st Battalion of the Irish Guards will carry the coffin to the grave, to the accompaniment of pipers playing the Last Post and Reveille.

Uniformed members of the FCA will also attend the funeral. The dead man was a member of the FCA's 20th Infantry Battalion for four years.

Lance Cpl Malone, who was 28, was killed by sniper fire near Basra in Iraq on April 6th.