It is believed former US president Bill Clinton may have flown to Derry for the funeral of Martin McGuinnesses in a private jet owned by Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien.

Mr Clinton is known to be close to the businessman who has built up a communications and media empire making him one of the wealthiest men in the world.

Mr O’Brien’s €60m Gulfstream G650 jet is believed to have flown from Dublin yesterday afternoon and landed at Derry airport a short time later.

The same aircraft is thought to have returned to Dublin shortly after the Sinn Féin leader’s funeral.

Mr Clinton was then ferried in and out of Derry in a helicopter which landed in the GAA's Celtic Park stadium close to Long Tower church.

Former US President Bill Clinton touches the coffin during the funeral of Martin McGuinness. Picture by Niall Carson, PA

In the past Mr O’Brien and Sinn Féin have clashed.

Just last year a report commissioned by Sinn Fein MEP Lynn Boylan was critical of the Cork-born businessman’s media interests.

In response Mr O’Brien was scathing about the contents of the report.

It is believed Mr Clinton jetted into Dublin yesterday morning on a scheduled Delta Airlines flight before transferring to the private jet to travel north.

Former US President Bill Clinton speaks during the funeral of former deputy first minister Martin McGuinness in Derry

In the past Mr O’Brien has donated millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation, which operates charitable programmes around the world.

In 2012 Mr Clinton named the Irish business man a ‘Clinton Global Citizen’ under an awards scheme linked to his think tank, the Clinton Global Initiative.

Mr O’Brien could not be contacted for comment last night.