A COLOUR party in black paramilitary style garb escorted the cortege of the former INLA leader, Hugh Torney, for his requiem Mass in St Peter's Cathedral, close to his home off the Grosvenor Road in west Belfast.
The colour party consisted of two youths and two young women under the "command" of an older man. Mr Torney's coffin was draped in the Tricolour and the Starry Plough. His black beret and gloves were on top.
Such paramilitary trappings at previous INLA "feud funerals" often signal further funerals to come. But despite the display, yesterday's funeral was low key. There was no indication of anyone there having the stomach or the muscle to continue the INLA feud which, over eight months, claimed six lives.
The older man in the colour party was asked would there be an oration or any other "display" at the interment in the City Cemetery. "Ah, there'll be nothing like that," he said with the air of a man there to do his best to honour the dead man, but not interested in anything beyond that.
About 100 people attended the funeral.
Mr Torney's wife, Margaret, and her three children, Andrea, Barry and Ciara, were grief stricken. They huddled behind the hearse. A message with a wreath from Margaret Torney read: "If tomorrow never comes, just remember that I love you".
Two large floral wreaths read, "Daddy" and "Q-Ball" - a variation of his nickname, "Cueball".
The feud started when Torney's "GHQ faction" of the INLA murdered Gino Gallagher, who had deposed him as leader of the mainstream INLA. All the other victims belonged to, or had the misfortune - as in the case of nine year old Barbara McAlorum, who was murdered by those loyal to Gallagher to be related to those sympathetic to Torney.
The officiating priest, Father Joseph McGuigan, said in his homily Hugh Torney was being entrusted to the love and mercy of God. His family had been torn apart by violence, and it was they who must carry the burden of pain.
Neighbours rallied behind the Torney family, although it was not a day of unswerving sympathy. One woman standing on the pavement made a point about how the feud started by displaying a large photograph of Gino Gallagher as the cortege passed.
