Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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Question 155: To ask the Taoiseach the number and details of official days of mourning over the past ten years. [12339/05]

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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There is no formal definition of a national day of mourning and therefore no standard criteria by which to determine the form of official mourning, which has been observed in different ways, depending on the nature of the event.

A decision to direct that the national flag be flown at half mast is a form of official mourning, as reflected in international practice. Occasions on which this has been ordered over the past ten years include: the death of former President François Mitterand, June 1996; the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, September 1997; the death of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, September 1997; the death of Mother Theresa of Calcutta, September 1997; following the Omagh bombing, August 1998; the death of former Taoiseach Jack Lynch, October 1999; the death of the Queen Mother of the UK, April 2002; the bomb blasts in Madrid, March 2004; the death of former President Ronald Reagan, June 2004; the Beslan North Ossetia atrocity, September 2004; and the South Asia tsunami, December 2004.

The Government decided that a special national day of mourning should be held on Friday, 14 September 2001, in commemoration of the victims of the terrorist attacks in the United States on Tuesday, 11 September and as a gesture of solidarity with the people of the United States. On the day, three minutes' silence was observed. The Tánaiste signed an order under the Organisation of Working Time Act allowing businesses to close on the day. With limited exceptions such as emergency services, all schools, Departments and offices were requested to close.

As a mark of respect following the death of His Holiness Pope John Paul II, the Government decided that the national flag should be flown, on all public buildings equipped with a flagpole, at half mast beginning on Sunday, 3 April 2005 until midnight on the day of the funeral and requested that the flag should be similarly flown on private buildings that fly the flag. The Government also decided to cancel the Government meeting which was due to take place in Cork on Wednesday, 6 April 2005 and other associated events to mark Cork as the European City of Culture for 2005.

When Friday, 8 April 2005 was confirmed as the day of the Pope's funeral, the Government decided that any of its own workers who wished to do so, would be facilitated to attend appropriate religious services on the day. In addition, it was decided to allow boards of management of schools to have the option of closing for the day of the funeral, which would not be required to be made up for purposes of the school year. Schools exercising the option to close were asked to give the maximum possible notice to parents. The Government also expressed a wish that workers in the private sector would be facilitated by their employers, on a voluntary basis, to participate in religious ceremonies.

Similar observance of official mourning occurred on the death of Popes John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul I.