Footage from the funeral is being reviewed by police for potential breaches of the Covid regulations, which currently state that in Northern Ireland funerals are limited to 25 people.
Speaking this morning, Mr Stanley said that people cannot be stopped from coming to the footpath to pay their respects.
“We can’t stop people from turning out on to the sidewalk to pay their respects when a funeral cortege is passing by. But the rules are the rules and, you know, we’re striving to implement them.
“There have been a lot of large funerals on this island, we had an unfortunate situation last year of the detective garda losing his life.”