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Ahern tells Westminster: Ireland’s hour has come
 TAOISEACH
Bertie Ahern signalled a new era in Anglo-Irish relations last week with
an historic address to both British Houses of Parliament.
Political watchers said the event added to the likelihood of an official visit
by the Queen to the Republic of Ireland the first by a British monarch
since independence.
Speaking in the Royal Gallery to a packed chamber Mr Ahern acknowledged
former British Prime Minister John Major for his courageous early steps
in initiating the peace process.
And he described outgoing British PM Tony Blair as: “A true friend
of Ireland who has an honoured place in Irish hearts and in Irish history.”
Mr Blair also lavished praise on Mr Ahern.
He said: “The man we are honouring this afternoon has been at the
heart of the search for a political settlement in Northern Ireland for
more than a decade.”
Mr Ahern told MPs and peers Britain and Ireland were now engaged in a
new partnership which would put the differences of the past behind them.
He said: “Ireland’s hour has come. It came not as victory
or defeat but as a shared future for all.
“Solidarity has made us stronger. Reconciliation has brought us
closer.
“Ireland’s hour has come: A time of peace, of prosperity,
of old values and new beginnings.
“This is the great lesson and the great gift of Irish history. This
is what Ireland can give to the world.”
He said those who were killed during the Troubles should not be forgotten,
nor should a veil be drawn over the two islands’ bloodstained history.
But he added: “Now let us consign arguments over the past to the
annals of the past as we make history instead of being doomed to repeat
it.
“Violence is part of our shared past that lasted too long.
“Now we close the chapter, we move on and it will remain there as
it was written.”
And Mr Blair added: “In a curious way Bertie and I symbolise the
past him from a staunch Irish Republican background, me whose maternal
grandfather was an Orangeman living in Donegal. Yet today we are friends
and partners.
“Suddenly, in a few short years, our countries have shuffled off
all the old and disagreeable sentiments and replaced them with affection
founded on a modern and shared vision of these islands.
“At long last, both nations have found comfort in a shared future.”
n Irish election too close to call? See pages 6-7.
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