Gathering chants 'In that train we all travelled'

DUBLIN VIGIL: Some carried banners. Others candles. Yet more draped themselves in flags. All, however, chanted in unison. "We want peace. No to terrorism."

They came in their hundreds to show solidarity with friends and relations in Spain, but also to express their revulsion at the perpetrators of the Madrid bombings.

By 7.00 p.m. at least 1,000 people had congregated around the base of the Spire on O'Connell Street. Within minutes that number had almost doubled as people moved in from neighbouring streets to line both sides of the street. As the crowd fell silent, church bells could be heard chiming nearby.

Then the gathering, composed mainly of young Spanish students and workers, erupted into a 60-second applause, followed by chants of "Viva España" and "In that train we all travelled". A Spanish au pair, Ms Gemma Molero (20), held a banner aloft for a neighbour and close friend who was seriously injured in one of the blasts. "Dani Recover Soon", it read.

"I don't know if it is Eta or al-Qaeda to blame. But either way, we are tired of this terrorism, Every year it's the same - innocent people paying with their lives," said Ms Molero.

Ms Laura Pulido, a social worker in Dublin, struggled to describe how she felt. "Angst, is that the word? I feel angst, helplessness and indignation."

Like many, she said, she felt a "duty" to take part in last night's vigil, details of which spread by word of mouth through the Spanish community.

"Even when you are far away, your heart is in Madrid, especially when you have family there like I do," she said.

Meanwhile, the Spanish embassy in Ballsbridge had its flag lowered to half-mast. Around the base of the pole, bouquets of flowers had been placed.

Mr Jose-Andres Gallegos, deputy head of mission at the embassy, said "all sectors of Irish society" had called by to sign a book of condolences. "Even our postman came in and said he wanted to sign."

Among the others to file through the doors were politicians, members of the Irish diplomatic community, and a class of schoolchildren from neighbouring St Michael's College.

A more elderly signatory was Ms Anna Walsh from Harold's Cross who said her last time to visit the embassy was to get a visa for a holiday to Spain in the 1950s. "I just felt if another signature could do something, I'd have to come," she said.

Mr Pearse Foley from Rathfarnham, whose daughter lived in Spain for 11 years, also felt a duty to come. When he sat down before the book, however, all he could write was: "Words fail me."

"Personally, it's the most distressing thing I have come across," he said. "Even more distressing than our own bombings in 1974, and I was in Dublin that day when the bombs went off."