Taoiseach’s address - Speech heralds tide of change

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern’s historic address to both houses of the British parliament was a fitting climax to a remarkable period of progress and achievement in Anglo-Irish relations, which have never been stronger.

They say a week is a long time in politics and in that sense the occasion marked the culmination of an extraordinary chain of events that many on these islands thought they would never see in their lifetime.

Barely a week ago, Bertie Ahern stood beside British Prime Minister Tony Blair to mark the return of real democracy to Northern Ireland.