Facing a brighter future

JUBILANT Libyans living in Ireland have welcomed the Government’s formal recognition of their rebel-led national council as the official leadership of the country and invited Irish people to help them rebuild their shattered homeland.

Foreign Affairs Minister Eamon Gilmore yesterday said: “The Libyan National Transitional Council is now the only authority in Libya and I hope they will quickly be able to establish an effective government over the whole country.”

Members of the Libyan community gathered for an informal public celebration at the GPO in Dublin to mark the end of 42 years of dictatorship under Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Dr Faheem Bukhatwa, a lecturer at Griffith College, Dublin, and spokesman for the Libyan Community in Ireland, said: “We’re ecstatic, floating over cloud nine, if that’s possible, and if Gaddafi is arrested and tried, that will be the icing on the cake.”