Capt James Kelly had the courage and strength of character to stand up to injustice and not be silenced or cowed, mourners at his funeral were told on Saturday.
The Army officer acquitted in the 1970 Arms Trial was not, however, "obsessive", as some would suggest, his brother, Father Martin Kelly, told the congregation at the funeral Mass in Dublin. As was now clearly seen, he had been "justifiably persistent", Father Kelly said.
He welcomed the statement by the Taoiseach last Wednesday as a "significant step on the road to justice". Mr Ahern said Capt Kelly had honourably served his country and had acted on what he believed to be the proper orders of his superiors in the events that led to the Arms Trial.
Capt Kelly died last Wednesday, aged 73, following a short battle with cancer. Father Kelly said his brother had survived his ordeal because, as the former editor of The Irish Times, Mr Douglas Gageby, had said, he was "a man of great heart, spirit and resilience".
"He survived being on the dole and being a social pariah. Well-known distributors refused to handle his books. His children suffered verbal abuse."
But Jim, as everyone in the family knew him, had shown his resilience in a number of ways. He was a writer of books, a candidate in elections, a founder of Aontacht Éireann with Kevin Boland, editor of various publications, publisher and editor of the Cavan Leader, a publican and a frequent contributor to letters pages. Father Kelly said that being "Christ-like" was something that Jim would never have claimed. In his homily, however, he drew parallels between his brother's experience and that of Jesus before Pontius Pilate.
The revealing thing, he said, was that Jesus had stood alone before Pilate on the day of his crucifixion. "Almost everybody had taken sides against him. His friends ran for cover.
"The Pilates of this world are remembered for self-righteously washing their hands in public in order to save their position by allowing the victimisation of an innocent party. The passion of Jesus Christ is not something of the past. It's a continuing reality in the so-called real world. Jim has been through a type of passion and resurrection."
However, the truth would "out in the end". His brother, he said, had been weaned on values such as truth, honesty and integrity. "Allied with this was a deep concern for the underdog, the victims of injustice, and especially institutional injustice."
Father Kelly said that a few weeks before he died, Jim had shown him a copy of the RTÉ Prime Time programme, which contained new information about the events leading to the Arms Trial, and in which the former minister Justin Keating had said Jim and his superior, the late Col Michael Hefferon, should have been praised for doing their duty instead of vilified.
He also thanked the former Taoiseach, Mr John Bruton, for his recent "timely positive intervention" on his brother's behalf.
The chief mourners at the funeral Mass in the Church of Mary Immaculate, Refuge of Sinners, in Rathmines, were Capt Kelly's wife, Sheila, daughters Suzanne, Jacqui, Sylvia and Sheila, sons Peter and Justin, his brothers and sisters and 10 grandchildren.
Another brother, Father Oliver Kelly, was among the priests who concelebrated the Mass. The congregation also included the former Taoiseach, Mr Albert Reynolds; Fianna Fáil politicians Mr Brian Lenihan TD, Mr Conor Lenihan TD, Sen Martin Mansergh and Mr Niall Andrews MEP; the former Tánaiste Mr John Wilson; Sinn Féin TD Mr Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin; Green Party MEP Ms Patricia McKenna; the civil rights campaigner Mr Michael Farrell and the musician Mr Paddy Cole. The Defence Forces were represented by Lieut Col John Joe O'Reilly of Cathal Brugha Barracks, and members of the 2nd Infantry Battalion acted as pall-bearers.
