Sinn Féin president Mr Gerry Adams and former SDLP leader Mr John Hume have made appeals on the Arabic television for the release of British hostage Mr Ken Bigley.
Mr Adams conducted an interview with al-Jazeera while in London for a series of meetings.
Sinn Fein president Mr Gerry Adams
He told the station he was approached by campaigners seeking the release Mr Bigley. "I spoke yesterday to Paul, Ken's brother. Mr Bigley's mother is from Ireland and this gives us a special interest.
"The majority of people in Ireland were against the invasion of Iraq and are against the war in Iraq.
"The Taoiseach and other Irish politicians have called for the release of Ken Bigley. I am not here to lecture to people or to dictate to people, but I believe that the cause of those who hold Mr Bigley can be better advanced if they are magnanimous and generous and release him," he said.
Mr Hume also joined the list of Irish politicians calling for the Mr Bigley's releasy.
Mr Hume said in Dublin today that he had made direct appeals to the captors on Arab TV to return Mr Bigley to "his Irish mother".
He said: "I told them I had no doubt that I was speaking for the people of Ireland as a whole in my request."
Labour TD Mr Michael D Higgins, who visited Iraq several times, has spearheaded efforts in Ireland to have Mr Bigley rleased. He has written to Palestinian leader, Mr Yasser Arafat, seeking his "intercession and influence" in the matter.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, last Friday issued a statement on al-Jazeera calling for the release of Mr Bigley.
Mr Ahern said Mr Bigley was an "ordinary working man" who did not deserve to be harmed in any way.
Mr Bigley, whose mother Elizabeth is from Dublin, is being held by supporters of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a group that has made the release of female Iraqi prisoners a condition of his release. The group beheaded two American hostages earlier last week.
Mr Bigley appeared in an Internet video yesterday in which he was shackled, caged, wearing an orange jumpsuit, and pleading for British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair to save his life.
