IRISH REACTION: A book of condolences for the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, will be opened at the Mansion House tomorrow by the Palestinian Delegation in Ireland, led by Mr Ali Halimeh.
The book will be available for signing from 10.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. tomorrow, from noon to 4.30 p.m. on Sunday and 10.30 a.m. to 5 p.m on Monday.
The President, Mrs McAleese, described Mr Arafat's passing as "a tragic loss to the Palestinian people for whom he has been a unifying figure for decades". She added: "We must hope that the efforts which he began to bring peace to the region and a state to his people will find fruition in the near future."
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said it was "perhaps the most tragic aspect" of Mr Arafat's death that he did not live to see a Palestinian state. "I regarded President Arafat as a friend of Ireland and, indeed, a personal friend."
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Ahern said: "His role in the struggle for Palestinian statehood has been unparalleled, an achievement most visibly underlined in the Nobel Peace Prize he shared with the late Yitzhak Rabin.
"Tragically, neither of these men lived to see the vindication of their vision of two states, Israeli and Palestinian, living side by side in peace and security."
The Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, said Mr Arafat "was synonymous with the Palestinian cause". He added: "Yasser Arafat made mistakes, he missed opportunities. But his mistakes must be weighed against the enormity of what, through the years, he found himself up against, typified by Israeli intransigence and the tinderbox that is Gaza."