Irish reaction: Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has said the right of the Iraqi authorities to hang Saddam Hussein had to be respected, despite Ireland's opposition to the death penalty
Speaking on Saturday following the execution, Mr Ahern said: "My view is Saddam should have spent his last years behind bars for his heinous crimes," he said.
"The fact that he has been executed by the Iraqi state to a certain extent reduces the state to that level. Ireland is one of many countries which signed a convention abolishing the death penalty." A Government statement at the weekend focused on the future for the Iraqi people, who they said had "endured enormous pain and suffering".
The statement said healing and reconstruction must now come "centre stage and all efforts must be made to help the Iraqi people enjoy a peaceful and stable future".
Fine Gael foreign affairs spokesman Bernard Allen warned that the execution would bring repercussions in the Middle East.
He said that although his party doesn't agree with capital punishment, "we must recognise that Saddam Hussein was a dreadful despot with the blood of tens of thousands of people on his hands and was guilty of serious war crimes both against his own people and against the Kurds".
"His execution, however, will deepen the already open wounds in Iraqi society and will inevitably lead to increased violence and bloodshed with further consequences for other parts of the Middle East."
Labour foreign affairs spokesman Michael D Higgins said the execution would not contribute anything towards a peaceful resolution in Iraq.
"The execution may bring some satisfaction to President Bush and the dwindling number of those who now support the invasion, but it will do nothing to contribute towards peace and reconciliation in Iraq," he said
"Many innocent Iraqis died at the hands of his regime; many more will die in the aftermath of his execution which came at the end of a trial process regarded by most independent observers as being deeply flawed," he added.