The death toll on September 11th was nearly as great as in the entire course of the troubles in the North, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has said.
He was speaking in Dublin yesterday at the launch of Fire in the Morning, a book about the role of Irish-Americans in the events of that day by the New York-based journalist and publisher, Mr Niall O'Dowd. About one-third of the victims had Irish connections, ranging from undocumented workers of Irish nationality to second-generation Wall Street stockbrokers.
"By any standards in the annals of human suffering, September 11th is unique. In the space of an hour, New York lost nearly as many people as our country had lost in 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland. The horror of the terror assault on the Twin Towers will haunt our generation and our children forever," the Taoiseach said.
Describing it as an "important, historic and very sensitive account", Mr Ahern said that, through his book, the author had become "the bard of Irish-Americans", recording the collective memory of that fateful day.
"His book explains how no living thing was meant to survive the pulverising impact of the collapse of the towers. And with great detail he recalls rescue workers as they went about their desperate and dangerous task, hearing the mobile phones ringing beneath the rubble.
"Relatives, friends and loved ones, frantic with fear and grief, rang those mobiles until the batteries ran dead. It was a dreadful chorus, reminding the rescue workers of the shattered lives beyond the perimeter of death and destruction in which they worked." He said many Americans, from political and civic leaders to ordinary tourists, had expressed their deep appreciation of the gesture by the Irish people in holding a National Day of Mourning.
He also thanked Mr O'Dowd for his contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process: "He has been a firm advocate, helping to convince many in Irish-America that Ireland had embarked on a bold new phase in our history."
In a short address, Mr O'Dowd said different elements of Irish-America met each other going in different directions on the stairs at the World Trade Centre: Irish-Americans earning large sums of money with Wall Street firms like Cantor Fitzgerald were saved by rescue workers, many of them also of Irish origin, who unselfishly gave their lives.
Fire in the Morning is published by Brandon.