Paisley’s warm tribute came as the pair prepared to meet on the historic site of the Battle of the Boyne on Ahern’s last day as taoiseach. It was his final public engagement before going on to Aras an Uachtarain, the presidential residence, on Tuesday evening to submit his resignation to President Mary McAleese.

The actual end of Ahern’s 11-year stint as head of the government didn’t come until Wednesday. He remained as caretaker taoiseach until his successor Brian Cowen was formally acclaimed in the Dail (Parliament) on Wednesday afternoon.

Paisley’s praise for Ahern contrasted sharply with his former firebrand bigotry when he dismissed any speculation about presidential or government affairs in the Republic as of no concern to him since they related to a foreign country.

His amazing u-turn — evident since he and Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness established a close working relationship at the head of the North’s administration -– was further underlined this week as he joined in the tributes to Ahern.

Paisley, also serving his last days in office, predicted Ahern would be a candidate to succeed McAleese as president. “I would think that with his popularity he will have no bother getting there. After all he has done he deserves to be the president of the country, if he so desires it,” said Paisley.

Ahern and Paisley opened the new $39 million Battle of the Boyne site outside Drogheda, Co. Louth. Using original 17th century swords, the pair jointly cut the ribbon at the site.

The scheme includes a visitor center in Oldbridge House with exhibitions depicting the battle, audio visual facilities, the restoration of the walled gardens and a tearoom and full-scale replica 17th century artillery and military equipment.

The opening came almost a year since Ahern first welcomed Paisley to the site.

Looking back on his time as leader of Fianna Fail and taoiseach, Ahern repeated his statement to a Joint Session of U.S. Congress almost a week earlier that helping bring about peace in Ireland was his proudest achievement.

He wrote in the Irish Times, “It is an achievement I share with thousands and thousands of people across this island and beyond. I am grateful to so many people for their courage and work in helping to bring about an Ireland free of conflict, where people of North and South can live together in peace and prosperity.

“I thank God that we have closed the bloody chapters in our history and opened a new book of reconciliation and renewal.”

Ahern also proclaimed his pride in reducing unemployment and reversing emigration.

“I believe it has been one of the great achievements of our generation to transform this country from one where once emigration was the norm, to a nation of net immigration. Not only are we now welcoming back many of those who emigrated from Ireland in the 1970s and 1980s, but we’re also attracting skilled workers from abroad,” he wrote.

“For me, one statistic captures the progress we have made. In 1987 when I was first appointed Minister for Labor, just over 1.1 million were in employment in Ireland. By December last year that figure was nearly 2.14 million.

“That is over one million jobs created in a generation and there is a real human story behind these impressive figures in that no longer must our young people leave this country for a decent job and a living.”

Ahern was elected taoiseach in 1997. He won three successive general elections for Fianna Fail, and was the country’s second longest serving premier after party founder Eamon de Valera.

Although there has been speculation that a post in the EU could be on the cards -– as well as a likely tilt at the presidency in 2011 –- Ahern apparently ruled out an imminent move to another high-profile political role.

In a letter to constituents he promised to continue to represent them in the Dail until the next general election.

In several interviews he predicted that Brian Cowen will be “a great taoiseach.”