More than 30 industrial, religious, political and charitable organisations have called on the Taoiseach to put the cancellation of Third World debt at the top of the EU agenda, when Ireland takes on Presidency of the Union next year.
During a loud and colourful protest in Dublin city centre on Saturday, groups such as the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Oxfam and Comhlamh, and political parties Sinn Féin, the Labour Party, Fine Gael and the Green Party, said the Mr Ahern and his Government now had the "ideal opportunity" to put Third World debt at the top of the EU agenda.
The event, in which about 150 took part, was held to mark the first anniversary of the Government's declaration of support for the cancellation of Third World debt.
Ms Jean Somers of the Debt and Development Coalition Ireland said, despite all of the promises, debt was "still an unbearable burden for developing countries.
"Children die in their hundreds every day from causes directly attributable to debt and this is a scandal," she said.
Outside the Central Bank, letters of support were read out from the Archbishop of Dublin designate, Dr Diarmuid Martin, Bono and the Jubilee 2000 debt cancellation campaign.
Bono said he hoped those who gathered were "making a lot of noise to be heard in governments across Europe and America, in the halls of the IMF, in the World Bank.
"What's happened on debt cancellation, thanks to you and millions of people around the world, is extraordinary," said Bono.
He said lives were being saved in Uganda, and in Mozambique children were being educated with money that would have otherwise been used to service First World debt. "But we all know it's not enough. Overall, Africa still pays back about $40 mil- lion a day in debt repayments. We can't stop until justice is done, until the poorest people in the world no longer have to repay the old and crooked debts of their grandfathers."
The leader of Sinn Féin, Mr Gerry Adams, echoed the calls of the protesters, saying "each of us has a real role to play in the coming months to turn the Irish Government's support for the 100 per cent debt cancellation into an active priority.
"I am calling on the Taoiseach to use Ireland's presidency of the EU to call on world leaders to work together to achieve the cancellation of foreign debt.
"The UN has estimated that if the funds to pay off debt were diverted back into health and education, the lives of seven million children a year could be saved."
A petition was later handed in to the Department of the Taoiseach. Over the course of the day, some 4,000 signatures were gathered, said the event's co-ordinator, Mr Pat Raleigh.
