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WASHINGTON — Congress gave Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern a rousing farewell Wednesday as he hailed ties between Ireland and the United States just days before he plans to step down as premier.
In one of his final acts on the world stage, Ahern also looked back on the peace he helped craft in Northern Ireland.
"After decades of conflict, I am so proud to be the first Irish leader to inform the United States Congress that Ireland is at peace," he said.
Speaking at a joint meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives, Ahern said Ireland and the United States have a relationship forged by generations of Irish immigrants.
"To be an Irishman among Americans is to be at home," he said.
Ahern entered the packed chamber of the US House of Representatives on Wednesday to ceremony and a standing ovation.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., invited Ahern two months ago to speak to Congress in recognition of his peacemaking efforts and tenure as one of Europe's longest-serving leaders.
Ahern is widely credited with helping to achieve the Good Friday peace accord of 1998 for the neighboring British territory of Northern Ireland and for overseeing the longest economic expansion in Ireland's history.
The Irish economy, heavily dependent on the involvement of more than 600 US companies, is facing a challenging period of slowing growth and rising unemployment.
Ahern arrived in Washington on Tuesday. The jet-lagged Irish delegation was awakened shortly after 4 a.m. Wednesday morning by a fire alarm at their hotel that forced the building's evacuation for about an hour. Ahern's office has released a statement saying a generator on the roof of the hotel overheated and burned out. The US Secret Service took Bertie Ahern to an undisclosed "secure location" until everyone was allowed to return to their rooms.
Cecilia Ahern, one of Ireland's most popular novelists, was traveling with her father.
The prime minister is stepping down May 6 as a judicial investigation proceeds into secret payments he allegedly received from businessmen in the 1990s. He is being replaced the following day by Finance Minister Brian Cowen.
Before making his shock resignation announcement this month, Ahern had faced mounting criticism for his shaky, unconvincing testimony to a decade-old corruption tribunal established by his own government.
Ahern initially claimed he received cash payments from friends in 1993 and 1994 to help him cope with a 1987 marital separation. But subsequent investigations indicated Ahern also received undisclosed payments in British pounds and US dollars, which Ahern denies, and also took party funds for his personal benefit.
The prime minister plans to meet President Bush on Wednesday afternoon, according to the Irish Embassy. The visit comes barely a month after the Irish premier was last in the White House to meet the US leader for St. Patrick's Day.
Ahern also will be guest of honor at a congressional lunch hosted by the Friends of Ireland group in the House of Representatives.
