Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sure the former Attorney General will figure it out.

On this occasion, as we mark the anniversary of the ratification of the Good Friday Agreement, expressed through the ballot box by the people of the island, we know it was only the start of a long journey in the implementation of the promise of the agreement. As has been said many times, it is a peace process. Peace is not a moment in history. Peace is not when an agreement is made or ratified. Peace is the hard, often unseen, work of many people over months, years and decades.

Following the work by Mr. Ahern and many other taoisigh in advancing the build-up to the Good Friday Agreement, the ratification of the referendum was the start of nearly a decade of work by him and his counterpart in the United Kingdom, Tony Blair, working with successive US Administrations under Presidents Clinton and Bush and with our friends on Capitol Hill and throughout the US. Their support was steadfast, long and enduring. As a result of the relationships Mr. Ahern built up with the late Senator Ted Kennedy, current Senator Coons and Congressmen Richie Neal and Peter King, he went on to work with his partners in peace. They included George Mitchell, General de Chastelain and former Finnish Prime Minister, Harri Holkeri; the unionists David Trimble - Mr. Ahern acknowledged it as one of those seminal moments in the history of this island when Mr. Trimble stood up on that chair and asked people to follow him - and Reg Empey; the nationalists John Hume, Seamus Mallon and Bríd Rodgers; republicans Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness; loyalists Gary McMichael, David Ervine and Billy Hutchinson; the leader of the Alliance Party, John Alderdice; the formidable Northern Ireland Women's Coalition, led by Mr. Ahern's great friend, Monica McWilliams; Mo Mowlam and many others. They worked for one goal, namely, peace and to give the people of Northern Ireland the opportunity to decide and create their own peaceful future in which all people, regardless of who they are, would have the chance to reach their full potential.

While Mr. Ahern was building bridges in Northern Ireland and broadening understanding in his time leading the Government as Taoiseach, he also built roads and opportunities across this island. He built a motorway to Northern Ireland to connect people North and South. It is now possible to cross the country from the Irish Sea to the Atlantic Ocean in half the time it used to take.He expanded the infrastructure for future and higher education, allowing the people the opportunity to expand their horizons and reach their potential. In 1998, when the referendum was ratified, Ireland was ranked 21st in the world according to the UN Human Development Index in respect of health, education and income. Consequent to the investment in the people of this country under Mr. Ahern's policies and policies that followed him, Ireland is now ranked eighth, ahead of Germany and just behind Sweden. Mr. Ahern is an honorary professor in peace studies at the George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice. He shares his experience and understanding with others around the world and advises them, including those in the Basque Country and Papua New Guinea who want to bring peace to their people. He is transforming the lives of people on distant shores. However, behind the scenes his quiet diplomacy on this island continues. In this regard, I have seen at first-hand the high esteem in which he is held by individuals, groups and organisations on all sides. Politics can be about labels and identity but, ultimately, it is about people. Politics is a contact sport. The more people you meet and the more you get to see their point of view, the more you understand where they are coming from. This is where Mr. Ahern is coming from with respect to the Good Friday Agreement, and it is where he is coming from today. He brings understanding on all sides.

Former Senator and Nobel prizewinner W.B. Yeats said of peace that it comes dropping slow. Twenty-five years ago, working with many on all sides, Mr. Ahern ensured that drops of peace would fall on this island. For his service, the people of this island are grateful.