SCHOOLCHILDREN through-out Ireland yesterday prayed for the victims of the Dunblane massacre. Hundreds of schools opened books of condolences for the families of the 16 children and teacher who died, and for those who survived.
Some children wrote letters and sent sympathy cards to the school, others made get-well cards for the children still in hospital after Wednesday morning's shootings.
The Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, expressed his sympathy to the British Prime Minister, Mr Major, when they met in Egypt as news of the tragedy broke.
A minute's silence was observed in the Dail in memory of the dead.
Hundreds of people signed a book of condolences at Cork's City Hall.
The Lord Mayor of Cork, Mr Joe O'Callaghan, sent a message of sympathy to the families of the victims and to the people of the town.
Canon Basil O'Sullivan, a Cork-born priest, who is serving in Dunblane, said that he knew many of the children in class PI who died in the attack.
It was harrowing to see "little angels" draped in white shrouds after the gruesome carnage, he said.
Canon O'Sullivan asked the people of Cork to remember the victims by lighting candles in their local churches.
In the wake of the tragedy, prayers and masses are to be offered in churches throughout the north-west. But in Co Donegal, where people have a special affinity with Scotland as many emigrant families have located their homes there, schoolchildren drew pictures, composed poems and signed cards to help the people of the grief-stricken Scottish community.
Teachers and parents in Co Donegal are also opening a book of condolences which will be presented to the bereaved families of Dunblane.
Meanwhile, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, the Right Rev Dr John Ross, wrote to the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, the Right Rev James Harkness, and conveyed the shock and sadness felt by his community.