Reaction: The Taoisech, Mr Ahern, expressed his "shock and sorrow" at the death of Sweden's foreign minister Ms Anna Lindh this morning.
Ms Lindh died this morning in hospital after being stabbed while shopping in Stockholm yesterday.
"I've learned that the tragic nd untimely death of Anna Lindh, Foreign Minister of Sweden, with shock and sorrow," said Mr Ahern.
"Her death represents a profound loss to the political process in Sweden, on the broader international stage and particularly in Europe," he added.
In a statement, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, said Ms Lindh had "a warm personality, a good sense of humour, an incisive intelligence and a commitment to decent values."
"She will be missed both privately by her very many friends across Europe and beyond, and publicly by those who admired her commitment to shaping a better world," Mr Cowen added.
The murder was "an attack on all democrats and represents a severe blow to the Swedish people", Fine Gael's foreign affairs spokesman Mr Gay Mitchell said. "The shocking news from Stockholm will touch everyone in Ireland with an interest in the democratic process," he said.
The Labour Party also expressed "shock and sadness" at the death of Ms Lindh this morning.
Labour's Spokesman on European Affairs Mr Ruairi Quinn said Ms Lindh "played an important role in the Party of European Socialists to which her party and the Irish Labour Party, along with 32 other parties in Europe, belong."
"She was a particular friend of Ireland's, had visited the country many times and recently on the eve of the Swedish Presidency of the EU made a very important speech at the Institute of European Affairs in Dublin.
"On behalf of the Irish Labour Party I wish to extend sincere sympathy to Ms Lindh's family, her party, and to the Swedish people," Mr Quinn said.
The British Foreign Secretary Mr Jack Straw paid tribute today to his Swedish counterpart describing her as a close friend, someone who was full of life, and said she represented everything that was "wonderful" about Sweden and Europe.
Condemning the attack as "appalling" and a "terrible shock", he said: "I wanted first, on behalf of the British Government, to express our condolences to her husband Bo, her children, her wider family and friends and to the people of Sweden.
"I also wanted to say something more personal because Anna was a good friend of mine.
"She had this extraordinary ability to balance the demands of one of the most active of Europe's foreign ministers in her role as one of Sweden's leading politicians and that of someone who was completely committed to her family."