Nobel laureate Dr Desmond Tutu has urged the people of Northern Ireland not to give up on the peace process.
Speaking in Dublin this evening, the South African cleric also said the whole world would prosper if Africa could escape poverty, disease and conflict.
He appealed to the G8 nations to support the British Chancellor Gordon Brown's “new Marshall Plan” for Africa.
The former Archbishop of Cape Town also urged “I was very thrilled that the British Chancellor of the Exchequer has put forward what he has called the new Marshall plan for Africa,” Dr Tutu said.
“I would hope very much that the G8 would be supportive of that.
“It's a form of self interest - if Africa comes out of the morass and becomes a vibrant economy then the repercussions for the rest of the world are better than an Africa overwhelmed by poverty and disease and conflict.”
Asked if he thought Pope Benedict XVI should attend the G8 summit, Dr Tutu laughed and said: “The more the better, if you can get as many people there who care, and I'm sure the Pope cares about poverty, the more high profile people you have there the better,” he said.
He urged the people of Northern Ireland not to give up on the peace process.
“I think you mustn't give up hope - that's the most important thing,” he said.
Dr Tutu said when South Africa was struggling for democracy it was like “a rollercoaster” with highs and lows.
“People want peace, most of the people want peace, most of the people want to see Northern Ireland prosperous and it's going to be prosperous only if everybody feels they have a stake in it,” he said.
Dr Tutu was in Dublin addressing a multicultural service at St George and St Thomas Church in Cathal Brugha street to celebrate the first anniversary of the Discovery Project, which seeks to build links with the city's immigrant population.
Abandoning his prepared address, he instead preached an impromptu sermon with a message of diversity and tolerance.
He said the story of Adam and Eve showed no one could live without other human beings, and that each individual's uniqueness contributed to the “glorious diversity” of the world.
“Scratch the skin once, and under the skin we are sisters and brothers,” Archbishop Tutu said.
He told the congregation “a rainbow is only a rainbow because it has different colours” and urged them to go out and celebrate their diversity.
“You can get music of some sort if you play only the white keys (on a piano) or if you play only the black keys alone, but if you want real harmony you have to play both sets of keys together, black and white,” he said.
The service was led by the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr John Neill, with music by the Discovery Gospel Choir, a multi-cultural choir which specialises in African music.
Dr Tutu is in Ireland until Wednesday. Tomorrow he will deliver a lecture at the Royal College of Surgeons entitled War and Peace in the 21st Century. On Wednesday, he will be made an honorary patron of the Trinity College Philosophical Society, a title also conferred on Live 8 organiser Bob Geldof earlier this year.
Special guests at the event will include former taoisigh Garret Fitzgerald and Albert Reynolds, the Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy, the PSNI chief Hugh Orde and Nobel laureate John Hume.
Additional reporting: PA