Bertie Ahern was among hundreds of people who turned out to remember the Manchester United footballer Liam Whelan, who died in the Munich air disaster 50 years ago this week.
The Taoiseach, a supporter of Manchester United, laid a wreath at the renamed Liam Whelan Bridge in Cabra on Saturday and recalled that Whelan's funeral had been one of his first childhood memories.
Whelan's funeral, which took place a week after the crash, was one of the biggest that Dublin had ever seen. An estimated 20,000 people turned out.
Gardaí had to hold the crowds back as the coffin made its way from the Church of Christ the King in Cabra to Glasnevin Cemetery.
"Manchester United meant nothing to me as a six-year-old, but we were all brought out on the day of the funeral when it was on its way back in from the Christ the King in Cabra," the Taoiseach recalled.
"We're all very proud round here that he played for Home Farm longer than he played for United. He's very much a local hero.
"It was a few years later before Manchester United started to reckon with me. At that stage, I was more interested in Drumcondra in the League of Ireland because they were the local side.
"I think the Busby Babes became the whole life and soul of Manchester United. If you listen to all of their stars of that time, Bobby Charlton and Harry Gregg and others, that's what made the club. It made the club an international club and it probably made it the attraction it is."
Whelan's five surviving siblings, brothers Christy and John and sisters Maura Collins, Rita Whelan and Alice Burke, were special guests at the wreath-laying ceremony. The bridge was renamed last year.
Wreaths were also laid on behalf of the Manchester United Supporters Club Ireland branch, the Cabra Community Council and on behalf of the family. It was followed by a minute's applause.
Maura Collins said: "It's a wonderful occasions and the Cabra Community and the Manchester United Ireland Supporters Club and all the youth clubs in Cabra have done a marvellous job. It's a great privilege to Liam and I hope all the young people.
"The sixth [ the date of the crash] never goes. The sixth is always there. We're so proud of him, but you still ache for him. He was only a young man."
Whelan was a prolific centre-forward who scored 52 goals in 98 first-team appearances for United. He also won four caps for Ireland and was just 22 when he died. Manager Matt Busby recalled years afterwards that "had he been spared, he [ Whelan] would have been one of the greatest players of all time".
At a memorial Mass on Saturday at the Church of Christ the King, which was concelebrated by the Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, Dr Éamon Walsh, memorabilia, including one of his international caps, were placed on the altar.
Later in the afternoon, another Manchester United and Ireland great, Paul McGrath, made a presentation to the Whelan family before a game between a Cabra selection and an Eircom league selection at Beggsboro football club.
An Post has also commemorated the anniversary by launching a specially designed stamp featuring Whelan's image and that of the Munich Memorial Clock at Old Trafford.
