Thursday, December 1 2005 12:16 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Dublin: Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent struggle for independence continues to evoke a lot of respect in Ireland, which had also fought against British colonialism and got freedom around the time India got it.

Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who is making a crucial visit to India in January heading a high-level Trade Delegation, recalled Gandhi's role and how it had inspired the people of his country under the leadership of its legendary leader Eamon De Valera.

Speaking to a team of senior Indian journalists here, he said yesterday he had seen a televison programme in which Gandhi's non-violent struggle progressed in 1920 and how De Valera was inspired by it and how he replicated it in Ireland.