Ken Reid was loved by journalists and respected by politicians from across Northern Ireland and beyond, mourners at his funeral have been told.

Hundreds of people packed into St Patrick’s Church in Ballymena, Co Antrim, for a service of thanksgiving for the former UTV political editor who died last week at the age of 69 after an illness.

Politicians past and present were represented at the service. Stormont speaker Edwin Poots and Ulster Unionist Party leader Mike Nesbitt, a former colleague of Mr Reid at UTV, were among those who attended.

Former MP Lady Sylvia Hermon and ex-Alliance Party leader David Ford were also in the church.

Dozens of journalists who had worked with Mr Reid over several decades also attended the funeral. Former UTV journalists Ivan Little, Frank Mitchell and Fearghal McKinney were joined by current political editor Tracey Magee and presenters Paul Clark and Rose Neill.

BBC journalist Mark Simpson delivered the eulogy, stating that everyone who had worked with Mr Reid would treasure the time they had spent with him.

He told the mourners: “It is not often you hear Stormont and love in the same sentence, but the Stormont press pack loved Ken Reid.

“It was a cross-community love, UTV and BBC. He was also loved by RTE, Sky, Downtown, Irish Times, the Press Association, you name it, newspaper journalists, even the press officers at Stormont loved Ken Reid.

“We saw it in the Stormont chamber on Monday, and even at Westminster yesterday, just how much he was respected by politicians on all sides.

“There was harmony at Stormont on Monday and we all know how rare that is.

“If it catches on, many of us in this church will be out of a job soon.”

Mr Simpson said despite Mr Reid’s professional achievements, he was a “family man first and foremost”.

Addressing the family in the church, he said: “You were his pride and joy. He had so much pride in all of you.”

He added: “During 27 years at UTV Ken had to explain the complicated, tangled, complex world of Stormont politics on live television in front of a huge audience and he made it look easy. He really did.

“At UTV he didn’t report the news, he was the news. ITV may have had their News at 10, but we had our News at Ken.”

Mr Simpson said when Ken Reid joined UTV in 1994, Albert Reynolds was taoiseach, Bill Clinton was in the White House and the UK prime minister was John Major.

He added: “Ken being Ken, it wasn’t long before he had interviewed every one of them.

“And so it went on. Ken interviewed all the key players in London, Dublin, Washington and Belfast for almost three decades. Seven prime ministers in total.”

Mr Simpson said that although journalists were always in competition, Mr Reid had taken the time “to build deep friendships at Stormont”.

Mr Reid is survived by his wife Liz and children Gareth, Sarah and Sophie. He will be cremated later following a private family service.