They had come out to simply say thank you and pay tribute to the long reign of Queen Elizabeth II
Mourners in Belfast, Lisburn and Royal Hillsborough have been reflecting on the life of The Queen and what she meant to them on the day of her funeral.
"A very, very sad moment, a thing that I never really expected to happen," one man told Belfast Live. "I remember I was up at Hillsborough Castle one time and she come out and a classroom of kids were there and they says, 'Mister, how do we get The Queen to come over?'," he said."And they roared their heads off and she came walking over and she had time for all the kids and their teacher said to me 'thanks very much'."But that was just the way she was, she was very friendly.
"It's sad but she had a great life and she did an amazing job for the country, so it's nice to remember everything she has done, especially for Northern Ireland." Among the hundreds of mourners who had gathered in Belfast, there were tears from some as the emotions of an historic day came to the fore.
"I suppose the big thing for me was the shaking of hands with Martin McGuinness and going to visit the south of Ireland.
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