THE TAOISEACH'S address to the joint session of Congress received little media coverage in the United States, with few newspapers reporting the speech.
The Washington Timesand Washington Posteach carried an Associated Press report of the speech on their websites but no reports in their print editions.
Writing in the Washington Times, the US capital's smaller paper, Seán Lengell noted the Taoiseach's declaration of Ireland's commitment to multilateralism as well as his call for a deal for undocumented Irish immigrants in the US.
"Capitol Hill eyes were smiling yesterday as outgoing Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern extolled the 'enduring bonds of friendship and esteem' between Ireland and the United States during a special joint session of Congress.
"Amid hearty cheers and standing ovations from a packed House chamber, Mr Ahern spoke of Ireland's contributions to the United States, the successful Good Friday accord in the British territory of Northern Ireland and his country's growing role in Europe and the global stage," the paper wrote.
Writing in The Republican, a Springfield, Massachusetts, paper, Jo-Ann Moriarty said: "In a speech that waxed poetic, the Dubliner spoke of the Irish sweat that helped build America, a nation of immigrants."
The warmest tribute came from the Boston Globe'sKevin Cullen, the US media's most knowledgeable commentator on Irish affairs.
In a column headlined "T'anks, Bertie", Cullen noted that the Taoiseach's address to Congress was "a long way from Drumcondra, his neighborhood on Dublin's gritty northside".
Cullen said the Taoiseach's "sloppy finances" would be no more than a footnote to his political history. "He will be remembered not even primarily as the Taoiseach who presided over Ireland's stunning reversal of economic fortunes. Years from now, when all of us are dead, Bertie Ahern will be remembered as the Taoiseach who presided over the end of the Troubles, Ireland's uncivil war."
Cullen continued: "That most unyielding of unionists, Enoch Powell, once said all political lives end in failure. He was only half right, because in political lives well lived, there is an after-life, a legacy.
"Bertie Ahern's legacy is better lives for millions of people. As they'd say on the northside, where the Hs are silent but nobody else is, 'T'anks, Bertie. T'anks for everyt'ing'."