The funeral of businessman, philanthropist and rugby player Tony O’Reilly will take place later this morning.
Mr O’Reilly died on Saturday in Dublin following a short illness, aged 88.
He played rugby for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions, before becoming a hugely successful international business figure and entrepreneur.
He is credited with creating the Kerrygold butter brand, led Irish Sugar and later became president and chairman of food giant Heinz.
He took control of Independent Newspapers and led its expansion into an international media company.
He also took over Waterford Wedgwood in 1990, although its eventual collapse led to financial difficulties for Mr O’Reilly which ultimately resulted in him entering bankruptcy in the Bahamas.
Mr O’Reilly was an active philanthropist and set up the Ireland Funds which ploughed money from US donors into reconciliation projects around the border.
A funeral mass will be held in the Church of the Sacred Heart in Donnybrook, Dublin 4 at 11am.
Mr O’Reilly is survived his six children, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, and 23 grandchildren.
