There has been widespread dismay and revulsion at the murder in Iraq of the British hostage Mr Kenneth Bigley, who was issued with an Irish passport earlier this week in a desperate effort to save his life.
Here, reaction was led by the President, Mrs McAleese, who said she was "greatly shocked and saddened" by Mr Bigley's death - sentiments shared by the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The Minister, Mr Ahern, said he strongly deplored "this cruel and barbaric act".
In Britain, the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, said he was "desperately sorry" for the Bigley family. "I feel utter revulsion at the people who did this, not just at the barbaric nature of the killing but the way frankly they played with the situation over the past few weeks."
Mr Bigley (62), an engineer on contract in Iraq, was beheaded by his abductors who filmed their butchery and sent a tape yesterday to a TV station in the Gulf. The Abu Dhabi station said it would not show the film and expressed condolences with the Bigley family.
Last night, the family were at the Liverpool home of Mr Bigley's mother, Lil (86), who came originally from Ticknock, Co Dublin. Their reaction to Mr Bigley's murder was given by one of his brothers, Philip, who spoke of Ken as a "wonderful father, husband, brother and son".
"Over the last few weeks we have successfully shielded our mother from the painful and graphic details shown on television and in the press," said Mr Bigley.
"The bereavement of a child, no matter how old, is hard enough without this additional anguish . . . To those who have prayed for Ken and our family, from all religious backgrounds, we thank you."
He said the loss to Mr Bigley's wife, Sombat, who lives in Thailand, was "immeasurable". Apparent strains within the family were evident when Mr Bigley thanked the British government by saying: "The family here in Liverpool believe that our government did everything they possibly could to secure the release of Ken in this impossible situation."
But Mr Bigley's other brother, Mr Paul Bigley, who lives in the Netherlands, does not share this view. In a statement to anti-war activists he said: "Please, please stop the war and prevent other lives being lost. It is illegal, it has to stop. Blair has blood on his hands."
The British Foreign Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, who met the family in Liverpool last night, disclosed that messages had been exchanged with Mr Bigley's captors.
"Four days ago, an individual approached the British embassy in Baghdad, presenting himself as a potential intermediary with the captors. It was very clearly in Mr Bigley's interest that we should do all we could to establish contact.
"Messages were exchanged with the hostage-takers in an attempt to dissuade them from carrying out their threat to kill Mr Bigley," Mr Straw said, "but at no stage did they abandon their demands relating to the release of women prisoners, even though they were aware that there are no women prisoners in our custody in Iraq."
Mr Bigley was kidnapped from his Baghdad home on September 16th along with two Americans who were both murdered within days. Mr Bigley was forced to make two videotape pleas for his life in which, manacled and shackled and breaking down, he begged to be allowed to live.