A big advance in fight on terrorism, says Taoiseach

IRISH REACTION:THE REMOVAL of bin Laden's ability to plot heinous acts was a major achievement in the effort to rid the world of the threat of terrorism, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said yesterday.

Mr Kenny said most people in Ireland remembered the terrible scenes in New York city, in Pennsylvania and in Washington on September 11th, 2001.

“They are, to echo the words of President Obama last night, seared on our memories. Today we think of the victims of those attacks, including those from the Irish-American community, many of them from the police and fire departments who died trying to save others.”

They also remembered, he said, all the other victims of international terrorism.

Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said: “I hope at least that the news today will give some closure to the people who lost family members in those attacks and also in the war on terror. Perhaps this can close a chapter on that part of our history.”

He said he did not believe there would be any implications for President Obama’s visit to Ireland.

“We have two very important visits coming up, the visit of Queen Elizabeth and President Obama. All the security precautions have been taken, and we are confident there will be no problems in that regard.”

He said he was not aware of any changes to security arrangements.

An Irishman who lost his sister and niece in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre has spoken of his relief at the death of Bin Laden but hoped to see those who masterminded the atrocity brought before the courts.

Mark Clifford of Passage West, Cork, lost his US-based sister Ruth Clifford McCourt (44) and her daughter Juliana (4) on September 11th when their flight from Boston to Los Angeles hit the World Trade Centre. In a remarkable coincidence their brother Ron was in the Twin Towers at the time of the attack. He survived.

Yesterday Mr Clifford, while rejoicing that bin Laden had been killed, said he was concerned that other people would be ready to fill his shoes. Only further murder trials for those responsible could ease the suffering of the families who lost relatives in the attack.

“It is quite difficult to make sense of it all. We still haven’t had a trial. There are people in Guantánamo Bay who are supposed to be there because of their involvement with bin Laden and September 11th. They have not been brought to trial.”

Mr Clifford said it was now nearly 10 years since the September 11th attacks and still there were no scheduled proceedings to bring those responsible to trial.

He called on Mr Obama to make good on his promise to bring those responsible to trial.