Millions of Europeans observed three minutes of silence this morning in memory of the thousands of victims of the Asian tsunami disaster.
At 11 a.m. places of work and leisure paused for the small ceremony.
Public buildings flew flags at half mast, stock exchanges fell silent, crowded railway stations came to a standstill and television and radio stations broadcast silence and solemn music in memory of the victims.
Here, the President, Mrs McAleese, led the silence across Ireland at a ceremony in Áras an Uachtaráin. All tricolours are flying at half-mast today.
Mrs McAleese invited members of the resident diplomatic corps and honorary consular representatives, as well as members of the Irish aid community, to join her for the occasion, which was suggested by Luxembourg, current holder of the EU presidency.
A drummer and piper from the Defence Forces also participated in the brief ceremony.
Ministers honoured the silence at a scheduled Cabinet meeting at Government Buildings also. The Taoiseach said he had asked all public buildings to fly the national flag at half-mast.
Both the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the employers' group IBEC urged businesses to observe the period of reflection.
Mr Turlough O'Sullivan, director general of IBEC, added: "It is important that companies engaged in the provision of continuous services or continuous production arrange appropriate cover for the duration of the three minutes' silence."
At least 150,000 people are feared to have died in the disaster.
As many as 20 Irish citizens are feared missing in the region. The first Irish fatality was confirmed last night. Ms Eilís Finnegan (27), from Ballyfermot in Dublin, was on holiday in the Thai island of Phi Phi with her boyfriend, Mr Barry Murphy, when the tsunami struck on December 26th.
After a week of searching, it is believed Mr Murphy positively identified her body in nearby Krabi yesterday evening.
The Government yesterday confirmed it would fly out a high-level team of officials and military personnel to the tsunami disaster zone in Asia to assess whether the Army can help in the relief effort. A team of Gardaí has already flown out to Thailand in an effort to locate and identify the Irish missing.
A group representing Army officers yesterday intervened with a spokesman for the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers claiming there was no legal impediment to sending Irish troops on humanitarian duty to south Asian countries affected by the tsunami disaster.