Irish rescue services stage special Mass

Irish rescue services personnel staged a special Mass in Dublin today, to salute their United States counterparts who died in the terrorist attack on America.

The memorial service went ahead at a city centre church.

Several hundred members of the gardai, officers from the Irish Army and fire brigade and ambulance crews from around the country joined in the religious tribute.

Also at the ceremony were two sergeants from the United States Marine Corps.

Brian Power, of the Irish ambulance officers’ group, said that for members of the Irish emergency services, events in America had brought back memories of disasters such as bombings and fires in Ireland.

The message to the American rescue teams from their Irish colleagues was that they were not alone in their grief.