DUBLIN (AFP) — Former prime minister Tony Blair was praised by his Irish counterpart on Friday for his role in the Northern Ireland peace process and in forging a new era in Anglo-Irish relations.
A decade on from the negotiation of the Good Friday agreement Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said Blair's commitment to the landmark peace deal had led to a new beginning.
"The connections between Ireland and Britain are intensely personal. We share so much socially and culturally and so many Irish people, our relatives, our friends, made their homes there in good times and in bad.
"And we have a shared history that has often been painful and difficult," Ahern said at a Dublin Castle event to honour Blair "for all that he has done for peace on this island."
Ahern said the peace deal put in place a comprehensive framework that had enabled recognition that all of the people on the island of Ireland had a right to their identity as British, Irish or both.
He said it built new political institutions that recognised that reality and which could have the support of everyone in Northern Ireland, leading to a a stable and lasting peace in a province scarred by violence between Catholics and Protestants.
Blair had brought commitment, tenacity, intellect and "his considerable powers of persuasion" to the process, Ahern said.
The former British prime minister, who left office last year, did not attend a 10-year reunion in Belfast on Thursday of many of those involved in the peace deal negotiations.
Friday's event in Dublin, hosted by the Turn the Tide of Suicide charity, included some of the key figures in the talks from Northern Ireland and former US senator George Mitchell who chaired the negotiations.
The 1998 agreement, endorsed by referendums in British-ruled Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, paved the way for the restoration of devolved government in Belfast after decades of sectarian strife and direct rule from London.
Ahern announced last week he would be stepping down as Taoiseach and Fianna Fail leader on May 6th over a long-running corruption investigation.
Blair is now the Middle East Envoy on behalf of the US, UN, EU and Russia, as well as taking on several highly-paid City consultancies.
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