Irish in Rome: Ireland had "probably done more than any other country" to mark the death of Pope John Paul, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said last night in the Vatican.
Over the six-day period, including today, "no official engagements had taken place, flags were at half mast, Government events were cancelled, the public service has time off to attend services and most schools would be closed today", he said.
The private sector had also agreed to give people time off to attend remembrance services.
"I am confident that to have six days of official mourning was the right thing to do," he said.
What had been decided for this week was the same as what had taken place on the deaths of President John F Kennedy and Pope John XXIII in 1963, he said.
Meanwhile, at the Irish College in Rome yesterday, the Bishop of Cloyne, Dr John Magee, expressed disappointment that there had been no national day of mourning to mark the Pope's death.
Bishop Magee, who was private secretary to Pope John Paul from 1978 to 1982 and his MC from 1982 to 1987, when he became Bishop of Cloyne, said he could not believe it when he heard there would be no national day of mourning in Ireland.
He commented on how other countries were having "three, four, five such days, even countries such as Cuba" and was disappointed to think that commercial powers might have influenced the decision.
He wondered what this said about us and our attitude to human life and particularly our attitude to someone "who had contributed so much to the world and the Irish people". Did it suggest that there was something basically wrong with us?
He felt that the Pope's death should have been foreseen and appropriate protocols should have been put in place.
At the Vatican, the Taoiseach spoke of how moved he had been to see the Pope's remains in St Peter's Basilica.
"It was very sad but it is still a great honour to be here," he said.
The papal nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazarotto, had arranged through friends to get him "very close" to the remains, the Taoiseach said, where he said prayers.
"He was a great Pope and a holy man and it is particularly moving for the Polish people," he said.
At the Irish College, the Catholic primate, Archbishop Dr Seán Brady, spoke of the posters all over Rome which read "Holy Father we weep for you, we salute you" as a fitting goodbye to a man whose pontificate was "just giving of himself".
