An Irish Council of Imams will be established on Monday to encourage the integration of the Muslim community into Irish society, and to spread a "spirit of Islamic tolerance" .
Among the main aims of the 19-strong council, which will be broadly similar to the Irish Bishops' Conference, are to form an official body to express Islamic viewpoints regarding issues arising in Ireland, as well as to increase inter-faith dialogue.
Made up initially of 19 Imams from mosques around the country, the council will be seen as the supreme Muslim theological body here. Its establishment reflects the size of the growing Muslim community in Ireland.
The new council, which will meet every three months, will be chaired by the Imam of the Clonskeagh mosque in Dublin, Sheikh Hussein Halawa.
Yesterday, he rejected suggestions that Muslim leaders here are "in denial" about the threat of religious extremism.
"We are not denying it. But in fact it is not happening and it has not happened. And I would advise that if somebody knows something then let them go to the authorities and report it . . . but as for allocating false allegations,this is not our way," he told The Irish Times yesterday.
"I hope that if somebody knows a person who has a terrorist ideology [that they will] report it to the authorities."
Sheikh Halawa said the new body would aim to provide a "unified" Irish Islamic viewpoint.
"If there is an issue and the Government here want to know the Islamic stance in this regard, we just wanted to provide them with a Muslim authority that can give the Islamic verdict," he said.
"Currently we have heard people using terminology that is nothing to do with Islam, in terms of the political Islam or the terrorist Islam, so we wanted to form a collective body that will stand and say, 'well, here are all the Muslim scholars and they are saying one thing'. So to give in other words a collective word issued by all of us who are scholars."