Fahad Mohammed (7) had three queries for the Taoiseach when the latter visited the Islamic Cultural Centre in Dublin yesterday. Was he rich? Did he have a limousine? Did he rule the world?
It was an unexpectedly tough line of questioning from a seven-year-old, and the replies got lost in the fuss surrounding Mr Ahern's appearance at the Clonskeagh complex, as hundreds of Muslims turned out to greet him. But having arrived in a chauffeur-driven Mercedes on the day Ireland took over the chair of the UN Security Council, at least two of Fahad's queries could have been answered in the affirmative.
The Taoiseach brought a serious message for the occasion, however. Given a guard of honour at the entrance by pupils from the Muslim National School, many of them holding posters bearing messages of peace, he reciprocated in a speech which stressed the "positive and welcome" contribution of Muslims to Irish society.
"We will not allow your good name to be damaged by terrorists who carry out evil deeds in the name of Islam", he told an audience which included diplomatic representatives from several Islamic states.
The chairman of the centre, Dr Saleh El-Harram, greeted Mr Ahern under a banner proclaiming: "We welcome our Taoiseach. We share in the grief. We pray for peace". This was a difficult time for everybody, Dr Saleh said, adding that Irish Muslims had been horrified by the recent: "Islam condemns all forms of terrorism. What happened in America shocked us as much as it shocked everybody else."
