President Michael D Higgins has said the significant contribution of the Jewish community to Ireland is “out of proportion to their numbers”.
The President made the remarks at a reception held in his honour by the Jewish Representative Council in Ireland earlier this week.
Acknowledging the Jewish community’s journey in Irish society had “not always been an easy one”, he said it may be “ironic to some that one of the best-loved and most famous characters in Irish literature”, Leopold Bloom, was a Hungarian/Irish Jew.
Mr Higgins said churches and faith communities had “an important role to play in helping us to understand our current society”.