Bill Clinton dines with wealthy Irish businessmen in Dublin just hours after speaking at IRA leader Martin McGuinness's funeral 

  • Bill Clinton visited Peploe's Wine Bistro on St Stephen's Green on Thursday night
  • Clinton was with Irish billionaire Denis O'Brien and hotelier John Fitzpatrick
  • Hours earlier, Clinton spoke at a funeral for Martin McGuinness in Londonderry
  • McGuinness commanded the IRA but became a politician who helped bring Northern Ireland to a peace deal, which Clinton played a key part in

Former President Bill Clinton was spotted having a night out on the town in Dublin with a couple of wealthy Irish businessmen hours after speaking at Martin McGuinness's funeral.

Clinton, dressed casually in jeans, sweater and a blazer, was photographed leaving Peploe's Wine Bistro on St Stephen's Green on Thursday night with Irish billionaire businessman Denis O'Brien and well-known hotelier and philanthropist John Fitzpatrick.

The group appeared to be in high spirits as they spoke with a passerby as they left the restaurant, a known hotspot for celebrities and politicians.

Fitzpatrick, an Irish-born, Manhattan based hotelier, is a longtime friend of the Clintons, having visited the couple in the White House when Bill Clinton was in office. He opened the doors of New York's Fitzpatrick Hotel in December 1991.

Communicorp owner O'Brien, also a longtime Clinton friend, has donated millions to the family's foundation. In 2012, he was named a 'Clinton Global Citizen'.

Just hours earlier, Clinton led mourners at a funeral for McGuinness - the former IRA commander whose journey to a peaceful settlement the president had played a key part in.

Former President Bill Clinton was spotted leaving Peploe's Wine Bistro in Dublin Thursday night with Irish businessman Denis O'Brien (right) and hotelier John Fitzpatrick

Former President Bill Clinton was spotted leaving Peploe's Wine Bistro in Dublin Thursday night with Irish businessman Denis O'Brien (right) and hotelier John Fitzpatrick

Clinton, Fizpatrick (to the left of Clinton in a blue button up) and O'Brien (right), all dressed casually, appeared to be in high spirits as they spoke with a passerby as they left the restaurant

Clinton, Fizpatrick (to the left of Clinton in a blue button up) and O'Brien (right), all dressed casually, appeared to be in high spirits as they spoke with a passerby as they left the restaurant

Clinton was seen walking out of the Merrion Hotel on Friday, the day after having dinner with the Irish businessmen

Clinton was seen walking out of the Merrion Hotel on Friday, the day after having dinner with the Irish businessmen

Clinton traveled to Londonderry in Northern Ireland where thousands, including a former Irish prime minister, gathered for a requiem mass for the terrorist-turned-politician who died aged 66 on Tuesday.

The former president was accompanied by Bertie Ahern, the former Irish prime minister with whom he had enjoyed a warm relationship when both were in power.

It was Clinton's deal-making and decision to allow the IRA's political wing to come to America freely which was seen as one of the key steps towards the 1998 Good Friday Agreement which brought peace to Northern Ireland.

Months after Clinton was out of office in 2001, the IRA announced a permanent ceasefire. McGuinness later became part of a power-sharing government in Northern Ireland, which has largely been at peace since.

McGuinness became the chief negotiator for Sinn Fein, the IRA's political wing, and Clinton met him a number of times as a result.

McGuinness, nicknamed the 'Butcher of Bogside' because of his years as a ruthless republican commander, was brought to 'Free Derry Corner' in his home city followed by hundreds of mourners in a procession on Wednesday.

His wife Bernie McGuinness and their four children Grainne, Fionnuala, Fiachra and Emmet all helped carry the IRA kingpin's coffin with the help of Gerry Adams, the president of Sinn Fein and McGuinness's closest companion in violence and politics since the early 1970s, and new Sinn Fein Leader Michelle O'Neill.

Clinton dressed casually on Friday, wearing a white button down shirt with a navy sweater and blazer and blue jeans

Clinton dressed casually on Friday, wearing a white button down shirt with a navy sweater and blazer and blue jeans

He smiled as he walked out of the hotel carrying his jacket while a number of other men followed close by with luggage and bags

He smiled as he walked out of the hotel carrying his jacket while a number of other men followed close by with luggage and bags

Clinton spoke to passersby and even signed autographs as he left the Merrion Hotel on Friday

Clinton spoke to passersby and even signed autographs as he left the Merrion Hotel on Friday

Along with signing autographs for fans, Clinton also posed for photographs outside of the hotel

Along with signing autographs for fans, Clinton also posed for photographs outside of the hotel

On Thursday they were in the front row as Clinton stood at the lectern towards the end of mass to deliver his own eulogy to McGuinness.

He drew laughter from the congregation as he spoke about the man he knew in an encomium which lasted 11 minutes.

'After all the breath he exerted cursing the British over the years, he worked with two prime ministers and shook hands with the Queen,' he said, to applause. 

The nearest he came to a tribute to the victims of IRA violence was when he said that the only way to have peace was 'if those who have legitimate - legitimate - griefs on both sides embrace the future together'.

'I learned this from Nelson Mandela who was a great friend of mine,' he said.

Then directly after that he said: 'Now I want to say something about Martin McGuinness.'

Pausing after making the oblique comparison, he went on: 'I came to treasure every encounter. I liked him.'

'They asked me to speak for three minutes. He could do this in 30 seconds. I can just hear him now: 'Here's my eulogy: I fought; I made peace; I made politics; I had a fabulous family that somehow stayed with me and endured it all.

'I was married to Gerry [Adams] almost as long as I was married to Bernie. It turned out I was pretty good at all this and I got a lot done.

'But if you really want to honor my legacy, go and make your own, and finish. Finish the work of peace so we can all have a future together.'

Clinton spoke from the lectern at the funeral of Martin McGuinness, the IRA commander who became part of Northern Ireland's peace settlement - but said nothing about the victims of the terrorist group's violence

Clinton spoke from the lectern at the funeral of Martin McGuinness, the IRA commander who became part of Northern Ireland's peace settlement - but said nothing about the victims of the terrorist group's violence

Clinton embraced Gerry Adams, the president of the IRA's political wing Sinn Fein, and a man seen as the most senior figure in the terrorist movement. Clinton invited him to the White House in 1995 in a move which came to be seen as helping create a peace settlement

Clinton embraced Gerry Adams, the president of the IRA's political wing Sinn Fein, and a man seen as the most senior figure in the terrorist movement. Clinton invited him to the White House in 1995 in a move which came to be seen as helping create a peace settlement

Hands across the ocean: After walking from the altar where he had delivered his 11-minute eulogy, ex-president Clinton paused to put his hand on the foot of McGuinness's coffin, which was draped in the Irish flag
Hands across the ocean: After walking from the altar where he had delivered his 11-minute eulogy, ex-president Clinton paused to put his hand on the foot of McGuinness's coffin, which was draped in the Irish flag

Hands across the ocean: After walking from the altar where he had delivered his 11-minute eulogy, ex-president Clinton paused to put his hand on the foot of McGuinness's coffin, which was draped in the Irish flag

Clinton went on: 'Look, he was only four years younger than me. He grew up at a time of rage and resentment, not only in Ireland, but all over the world, and it was pronounced here.

'He was part of the rage of his time. He hated the discrimination [against Catholics], he decided to oppose it by whatever means available to the passionate young, including violence.

'Somewhere along the way, for whatever reason, he decided to give peace a chance. Some of the reasons were principled, some were practical, but he decided.

'He was good about sticking with something he decided to do and he succeeded because his word was good, his listening skills were good, he was not afraid to make a compromise and he was strong enough to keep it if he made it.

'And finally, he realized that you could have an Ireland that was free and independent and self-governing and still inclusive.

'Most of the publicity Martin got as a politician was the very absurd notion that he actually got along with Ian Paisley [the late leader of the largest Unionist party and a Protestant clergyman]. I thought it was great that he got a word in edge-wise. I never could.'

As the panegyric went on, Clinton said: 'He made honorable compromises. He never stopped being who he was, a good husband, a good father, a faithful follower of the faith of his father and his mother, and a passionate believer in a safe and secure self-governing Ireland.

Clinton was accorded a warm welcome by the crowd outside the church where the service for McGuinness was being held

Clinton was accorded a warm welcome by the crowd outside the church where the service for McGuinness was being held

Clinton arrived at St Columba's Church for the requiem mass before the coffin had arrived in a lengthy procession through the city of Londonderry, whose name for nationalists is Derry, reflecting the deep sectarian divisions which remai

Clinton arrived at St Columba's Church for the requiem mass before the coffin had arrived in a lengthy procession through the city of Londonderry, whose name for nationalists is Derry, reflecting the deep sectarian divisions which remain

'The only thing was that he expanded the definition of 'us' and shrunk the definition of 'them'.'

'If you really came here to celebrate his life and honor the last chapter of it, you really have to finish the work.'

He earned the right to ask us to honor the legacy by our living, to finish the work that is there to be done.'

Thousands of mourners lined the streets of Londonderry, a city whose sectarian division is told in its name; nationalists like McGuinness know it as Derry.

It came after McGuinness' Irish flag-covered coffin was carried through the streets of Londonderry with Gerry Adams and his widow Bernie acting as pallbearers.

But families of those killed in IRA terror attacks said they fear the truth about their murders will be 'buried with him' because dozens known as 'The Disappeared' were abducted, executed and then dumped in unmarked shallow graves across Ireland during The Troubles, possibly at his behest.

It came as the Queen sent her condolences to the widow as families killed in the republican group's terror attacks said he should be remembered as a 'vile terrorist' not a peacemaker.

McGuinness leaves behind a complicated legacy.

Gesture: Clinton shook hands with McGuinness in September 1998, when the president came to Belfast to hail the Good Friday Agreement reached by both sides of Northern Ireland's sectarian conflict, and the United Kingdom government

Gesture: Clinton shook hands with McGuinness in September 1998, when the president came to Belfast to hail the Good Friday Agreement reached by both sides of Northern Ireland's sectarian conflict, and the United Kingdom government

He was accused of knowing the secrets of Northern Ireland's so-called 'Disappeared' - citizens who were abducted, murdered and secretly buried by republicans.

McGuinness always denied being the IRA's chief of staff at the height of the Troubles but once said: 'I regard it as a compliment'.

He was at the IRA's top table for years but turned peacemaker and was pivotal in securing the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

His historic meeting with the Queen in 2012 was followed by many more encounters, including in June last year.  

Once described as 'Britain's number one terrorist', McGuinness left his past behind to become one of the major players in Northern Ireland's peace process.

His unlikely journey took him from being second-in-command of the Provisional IRA in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday to Deputy First Minister (DFM) at Stormont. 

In 1972, at the age of 21, he was second-in-command of the IRA in Londonderry, a position he held at the time of Bloody Sunday, when 14 civil rights protesters were killed in the city by soldiers with the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment.

The following year he was convicted by the Republic of Ireland's Special Criminal Court after being arrested near a car containing explosives and ammunition. 

Crowds: Mourners arrived with the coffin at St Columba's Church Long Tower for the funeral of McGuinness in Londonderry, where he had been an IRA commander on Bloody Sunday, the most notorious day of the Troubles

Crowds: Mourners arrived with the coffin at St Columba's Church Long Tower for the funeral of McGuinness in Londonderry, where he had been an IRA commander on Bloody Sunday, the most notorious day of the Troubles

After his release from jail, and another conviction in the Republic for IRA membership, he became increasingly prominent in Sinn Fein, eventually becoming its best known face after Gerry Adams.

During the Troubles McGuinness had read numerous academic dissertations which all concluded that the British Army could not militarily beat the IRA.

But he claimed he believed the IRA could not defeat the British and became motivated to convince people change 'could only happen through politics'.

He was in indirect contact with British intelligence during the hunger strikes in the early 1980s, and again in the early 1990s.

In 1982, he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont representing his home city of Londonderry. He was the second candidate elected after John Hume.

He eventually became Sinn Fein's chief negotiator in the talks that led to the Good Friday Agreement which ended violence, secured IRA arms decommissioning in 2005 and shared government with former enemies. 

McGuinness became deputy first minister of Northern Ireland in 2007, but stepped down in January at the DUP's handling of the 'cash for ash' energy scandal, triggering a snap election.

Photographs of him at his last public appearance in January show him looking very frail.

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