Gately funeral to be held on Saturday
Stephen Gately's funeral to be held on Saturday
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By Richard James. |  |
Wednesday, 14, Oct 2009 12:22
By Lewis Bazley.
The funeral of the late Stephen Gately is to be held on Saturday in Dublin, his family's lawyer has confirmed.
The Boyzone member died aged 33 in his Majorcan holiday home last weekend, with a post-mortem examination revealing his death came as a result of "natural causes".
A Spanish court added Gately had suffered a pulmonary oedema, namely an accumulation of fluid on the lungs. Further tests are being carried out to determine the fluid that caused the singer's death.
Gerald Kean, the Gately family's lawyer, said efforts were being made to fly Gately's body back to Ireland as "quickly as possible".
Mr Kean added the family were "pleased" that the cause of Gately's death has been established, following tabloid speculation that he had been on a drinking binge with his partner Andrew Cowles.
"They are pleased that the results of the post-mortem vindicate exactly what they said all along, that Stephen died as a result of natural causes," Mr Kean explained.
"They would like to thank the authorities in Spain and Ireland for doing everything in their power to complete formalities as quickly as possible to get Stephen's body home."
It is believed the No Matter What star's body will be flown home on Friday for a private family wake ahead of Saturday's funeral.
Louis Walsh, who was Gately's manager in Irish boyband Boyzone, confirmed he will be attending the ceremony and said Gately's former bandmates were "devastated" at his passing.
"It's like they have lost their very, very best friend, and me too," he added.
"The boys are like his family now. The four boys were like four daddies for him."
Boyzone had six number ones in the 90s and had recently been on a comeback tour, with plans for a new album next year.