Former Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh, who died on Sunday, will be buried today.

The former TD for Cork South-West passed away in Cork University Hospital at the age of 71 after a short illness.

Requiem mass will be held at Clonakility Parish Church this afternoon.

Mr. Walsh will be buried afterwards at Ahiohill Cemetery.

Mr Walsh was first elected to the Dáil in 1977. He lost his seat in 1981 but won it back in 1982, serving as a Senator for a brief period during that time. 

He was first appointed a junior minister at the Department of Agriculture under Charles Haughey in 1987, and became the senior minister there in 1992 under Albert Reynolds.

That government collapsed in 1994, but Joe Walsh returned to the Department in 1997 under Bertie Ahern, and remained there for another seven years.

Mr Walsh received several international honours for his work, including being made an Officer of The Legion of Honour by the French Government.

He retired from the Dáil in 2007, but returned to public life in 2009 when he was appointed a Public Interest director in Bank of Ireland in the wake of the bank guarantee.

He is survived by his wife and five children.