The Taoiseach has said that educating young adults on the plight of the asylum-seeker is "an important way forward in creating a caring, multi-cultural society".
Speaking at the official opening yesterday of the Vincentian Refugee Centre, at St Peter's Church, Phibsboro, Dublin, Mr Ahern spoke about the personal difficulties experienced by refugees arriving in Ireland.
"There must be nothing more frightening than to be a stranger in a strange land. To be without family or friends, to be homeless, and hungry. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to try and pull the threads of your life together, without even the comfort of understanding the language spoken all around you," he said.
"A person is only a stranger until we get to know them - they become a friend when we begin to understand and empathise with them," he added.
Mr Ahern met refugees and parish workers during his visit to the centre yesterday and was treated to singing by a group of local schoolchildren.
The voluntary agency is situated in an area which contains a significant proportion of Dublin's refugees and asylum-seekers. In the last three months, it has seen 99 asylum-seekers and refugees from 27 countries. During December, 60 visitors called for help of various kinds.
Those who visit the centre are given advice on obtaining rented accommodation, overcoming language and acclimatisation problems, and combating any prejudice and racism they may encounter.
It is staffed by three full-time personnel, five qualified teachers, six other voluntary workers and five placement students. Funding has been provided by the Vincentian Fathers, the Daughters of Charity and Society of St Vincent de Paul.
The administrator, Mr Brian Moore CM, stressed there were 8,000 asylum-seekers already in Ireland, with another 2,500 expected to arrive this year. The centre was a small contribution to tackling the problems faced by both asylum-seekers and the local community and it was up to the Government and others to deal with the situation on a national basis.
Refugees from a range of countries attended the opening ceremony yesterday. Among those who talked to reporters was Mr Guennadi Krassilnikov, a broadcast journalist who had his own television programme in Belarus before the channel was closed down by the government.
His reporting of political events in his troubled home country, including coverage of an annual Chernobyl demonstration, led to him being arrested on a number of occasions. Mr Krassilnikov already had a visa for Ireland through work as an interpreter with his local chamber of commerce, which was investigating the possibility of trade with Ireland involving race horses. When he decided to leave Belarus for fear of prolonged detention, he and his wife came to Dublin.
Since his arrival, Mr Kras silnikov has encountered no "negative attitudes". But he expressed concern over the drafting of a Bill which would provide for the power to deport non-nationals where circumstances required.
Asked what he would say to the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, about the issue, he replied: "Mr O'Donoghue should try and put himself in the place of asylum-seekers and see it for himself. Irish people find it hard to understand what it is like to have to leave your country and your house and family and I would ask him to think about it."