The President, Mrs McAleese, and her husband, Dr Martin McAleese, were among the attendance at a funeral service for the delegate-general of Palestine in Ireland, Dr Yousef Allan, at the mosque of the Islamic Centre in Clonskeagh, Dublin, at the weekend.
Dr Allan was found dead from a suspected heart attack at his Dublin residence on January 17th. Several hundred members of the Muslim community attended the service, conducted by Imam Sheikh Hussein Halawa.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell, and the Secretary-General of the Department, Mr Padraic McKernan, were also present. The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mr Yasser Arafat, was represented by the delegate-general of Palestine to Britain, Mr Afif Safieh.
The mourners were led by Dr Allan's widow Jane, along with relatives who travelled from his home village of Halhoul on the West Bank.
There was strong representation from the diplomatic corps, including the US ambassador, Mr Michael Sullivan, the Chinese ambassador, Mrs Zhang Xiaokang, and the US deputy chief of mission, Mr Earle Scarlett, and his wife, Barbara, public affairs officer. The Indian, French, Dutch, Egyptian, Iranian, Portuguese, Belgian, Cypriot and Austrian embassies were also among those represented.
From the political sphere came the Green TD, Mr John Gormley, and Senators Michael Lanigan and David Norris. Many leading trade union figures also attended, including the SIPTU president, Mr Des Geraghty, the former president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Mr Phil Flynn, the former SIPTU president, Mr Jimmy Somers, the SIPTU equality officer, Ms Rosheen Callender, and Mr John Tierney of the National Centre for Partnership.
The Workers' Party was represented by its president, Mr Sean Garland. The Glasgow Labour MP, Mr George Galloway, and the former Labour Senator, Mr Jack Harte, also attended.
Dr Allan's remains were interred in the Muslim cemetery at Newcastle, outside Dublin.