Church bells throughout Cork city rang at 11 a.m. yesterday as people paid their respects to victims of the US tragedy. Many were thinking of the Clifford family, who lost a sister and a niece in the attacks.
More than 1,000 people gathered at the Cathedral of St Fin Barre, where Bishop Paul Colton of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, and Bishop John Buckley of Cork and Ross led an ecumenical service. Bishop Colton prayed for the US leadership as it faced difficult decisions, adding that the world would never be the same.
Bishop Buckley said: "There is very little we can do except pray for those who lost loved ones in the disaster, and express our solidarity with America, a country that has been so good to Irish people all down the years."
At St Colman's Cathedral, Cobh, Bishop John Magee said everybody was remembering the people who had left the town to make a new life in America.
Members of Cork Corporation, Cork County Council and Civil Defence, politicians, representatives of the Garda Siochana, the Fire Brigade Services and the Naval Services were among those who attended the Cork services.