Grief-stricken Boyzone bandmates have carried Stephen Gately coffin into a Dublin church.

They had held an all night vigil alongside his body after an emotional homecoming to his working class roots. The church can only fit 550 mourners but around 3,000 fans gathered outside the church to listen to the ceremony via loudspeaker. Among the mourners was the former Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern. Sir Elton John and his partner were there and said to be heartbroken at the news. They had introduced the Boyzone star to his partner Andrew Cowles. Gately was 33 when he was found dead on the sofa in his apartment in Marjorca last weekend after a night out. Boyzone had announced a comeback tour at the end of last year. Bandmates have had 76 09 tattooed on themselves, numbers corresponding the star’s birth and death.More about: Funerals, Ireland

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