A huge crowd gathered for Requiem Mass in Belfast yesterday to celebrate the life of concert promoter Jim Aiken, who died on Tuesday night after a short illness.
His wife Anne, children, extended family, neighbours and friends were joined for the Mass in St Brigid's Church by several well-known entertainers whom Mr Aiken engaged to perform in Ireland. Also among the mourners were many business people and fellow promoters.
They included American country singer Garth Brooks, dancer Michael Flatley, singer Paul Brady, Boyzone members Keith Duffy and Michael Graham, entertainment businessmen Louis Walsh, Harry Crosbie, Derek Nally and Gerry Lundberg, comedians Pat Shortt and Paddy Kielty, and broadcaster John Kelly.
Also present were the SDLP's Nobel laureate John Hume, SDLP leader Mark Durkan and former SDLP deputy first minister Séamus Mallon.
President Mary McAleese and the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, were officially represented at the funeral. Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and Rod Stewart also sent representatives.
Such was the crowd that the nearby community hall was used to cope with the overflow.
The chief celebrant, parish priest Mgr Ambrose McAulay, said the twin pillars of Mr Aiken's life were his "faith and his family". He told the congregation that Mr Aiken, who was diagnosed with cancer only recently, faced death "calmly, serenely and even happily".
Jim Clarke, a long-time friend and colleague, said that shortly before he died Mr Aiken decided that he (Mr Clarke) should give the funeral address rather than leave it to his son Peter, because it would be too emotionally draining for his son, who runs Aiken Promotions, the company formed by Mr Aiken.
His instructions were to "keep it short", which was typical of the modesty of the man, he said, but such were his achievements it was an impossible request to meet.
He said "Jim Aiken was a man who stood out in a business that craved celebrity". He loved life, nature and friendship, but most of all he just wanted to be a good "husband and father" because "for Jim, his family was the centre of the universe".
Attempting to explain how he succeeded in bringing such great artists to Ireland, he said it was because "they trusted him, and the more they got to know him the more they trusted him".
Mr Clarke read a letter Mr Aiken received last week from Bruce Springsteen and his wife Patti. "Dear Jim, We have just got the news over here. We are crushed," they wrote. "Such a big part of the joy we feel when we come to Ireland is seeing that big grin of yours when we come off stage. You have given us a second home over there. It is an honour to work with you and call you friend. Patti and I send our love, and a thousand times over."
Mr Aiken was buried in his native Jonesborough in south Armagh.
