Late Tourism Minister David Allen will receive the honour of an official funeral on Thursday at the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity on Church Street.

The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. and will be broadcast live on radio.

Mr. Allen, who served as the first Tourism Minister of the Progressive Labour Party Government, died on Thursday after a short battle with abdominal cancer.

Prior to the funeral service, Mr. Allen will lie in state at the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) headquarters, Alaska Hall on Court Street. Public viewing times are between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. tomorrow and between 9 a.m. and 10.15 a.m. on Thursday.

Internment will follow at St. James' Church in Somerset.

Private prayers in remembrance will take place on Thursday morning at the Cabinet Office.

Premier Jennifer Smith and other Cabinet Ministers will then travel to Alaska Hall, where they will be positioned for procession to the Cathedral. The Bermuda Regiment Band will lead the procession along a route from Alaska Hall, south on Court Street turning west onto Church Street, pausing at the Department of Tourism at Global House and slow marching from there to the Cathedral.

The Department of Tourism and the Visitors Service Bureau will be closed as a mark of respect.

Speaker of the House of Assembly Stanley Lowe has recalled the House for a special joint session for legislators to pay their respects to Mr. Allen.

Senators and MPs will meet from 10.30 am until 12.30 pm tomorrow.

Official Funerals are accorded to Cabinet Ministers, former Cabinet Ministers and the Leader of the Opposition while state funerals are reserved for Governors, former Governors, Premiers and former premiers.