The tragic events of September 11th meant that "we are all emigrants now", the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen said in New York yesterday.
He told the congregation at a memorial Mass for the victims of the atrocity in Holy Trinity parish church on Manhattan's Upper Westside: "We moved in one sudden jolt from the familiar country of the past to the new and unknown country of tomorrow.
"What lies ahead is uncertain, but we will live true to the truths that we shared with all those who have perished: that freedom and justice are the highest gifts of democracy; that family and friends are precious; that peace is better than war; that love is better than hate; that Ireland and America stand together as they have always done, bound by deep ties of kinship and affinity."
Speaking from the pulpit after the Mass was ended, he said: "I witnessed for myself the real horror of the devastation on last Thursday evening. We prayed for those who were lost and injured, for their families and for those who are giving their all in the rescue effort."
The Mass was jointly sponsored by the Consulate General of Ireland in New York and Holy Trinity Parish in Manhattan. The concelebrants included the Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Walsh and the Bishop of Cork and Ross, Dr Buckley. The retired Church of Ireland Bishop of Down and Dromore, Dr McMullan, also attended.
It turned into a moving ceremony of remembrance, with songs, readings and speeches in honour of the dead. Members of the congregation were asked to call out the names of relatives or friends who perished or had gone missing since the attacks.
For about ten minutes, the large stone church echoed with the names of victims, many of them with an Irish or Irish-American background. The singer Ronan Tynan performed Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears and Panis Angelicus. There were songs also from Mary Deady and the Holy Trinity Contemporary Choir. The Irish and US national anthems were sung at the end by Mr Cornelius Doolan and Congressman Joseph Crowley respectively.
Dr Buckley said Ireland was "a nation united in grief" over the events. He appealed for "the Lord's blessing on the American leaders with the terrible and important decisions that now confront them". Mr Cowen was accompanied by the Consul General in New York, Mr Eugene Hutchinson and the Irish Ambassador to the UN, Mr Richard Ryan.
Three members of the Dundalk Fire Service - Mr Kevin Cormican, Mr Michael Kenny and Mr Darren Murphy - had travelled to New York to show solidarity with their fallen comrades.