As preparations began in Rome for the funeral of Pope John Paul II on Friday, the Taoiseach's plans to mark the day here were criticised by trade unions, opposition politicians and parents' representatives.
While Bertie Ahern said on Sunday there would be no "national day of mourning as such", he said yesterday "a period of official mourning" would be observed.
The Pope's funeral will take place at 10am local time (9am Irish time), cardinals confirmed yesterday. Pope John Paul's body was carried on a bier from the Apostolic Palace to St Peter's Basilica, where he will be buried, a journey witnessed by tens of thousands of people in St Peter's Square. His body will lie in state inside the basilica until the funeral.
The Taoiseach said schools would be allowed to shut on Friday at the discretion of their boards of management. Civil servants will be allowed time off to attend services, in consultation with their superiors. Private businesses have been asked to make similar arrangements. Mr Ahern said the national flag would fly at half mast on all State buildings until midnight on Friday.
He said the measures were sufficient and went further than many other countries. "The requirement to close the entire country for the day I don't quite frankly think it's necessary," he said.
The Taoiseach's comments were welcomed by the employers' group Ibec. It said each company should decide what measures to put in place to facilitate staff requests to attend religious services. "As religious ceremonies can be attended before or after work, there should be no disruption to business," said director general Turlough O'Sullivan.
However, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions said the fact that schools are to be allowed to close "could cause real difficulties for working parents, who were themselves expected to work as normal. Under the circumstances, a national day of mourning was the sensitive and appropriate response." The Ictu said it "was clear that this option was favoured by the vast majority of Irish people. Economic considerations should not influence this decision".
Parents groups were also critical of the decision. Eleanor Petrie, president of the National Parents Council (post-primary) said: "If what you have is parents that both work, who is going to look after the children?" Fionnuala Kilfeather, chief executive of the National Parents Council (primary), said parents would now be "frantically looking" to secure childcare.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, who had called for next Sunday to be designated a day of mourning, criticised the Taoiseach for being inconsistent. "If the Taoiseach had shown more clarity when he first spoke on this matter, then we wouldn't be engaged on this debate now. I welcome the Taoiseach's U-turn, in people being facilitated to attend services on Friday, but still believe there is an appetite amongst the public to show their solidarity and support and grieve collectively."
US President George W. Bush will be among some 200 world leaders to attend the funeral. Britain's Prince Charles announced that he was postponing his marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles from Friday to Saturday so that he could be at the Vatican.
Irish diplomats are finalising details of the State delegation which will attend the funeral. President McAleese will lead the delegation, and the Taoiseach will also attend. Mr Kenny is likely to be invited as leader of the main opposition party.
The Tánaiste, Mary Harney is also expected to attend, although the Progressive Democrats conference will go ahead this weekend in Cork. Ms Harney is scheduled to deliver a speech to a private dinner to open the conference on Friday night. A dance following the dinner has been cancelled as a mark of respect.