ON THE last day of his US visit, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern revealed that he had received approaches "at the highest levels" about a role for him in international conflict resolution after he steps down from office.
Outside the Kennedy Library in Boston yesterday, Mr Ahern said the question of a future role had been raised a good few times in different places during his US visit.
"It has been raised at the highest levels all week," he told reporters after his last official engagement of the visit at the library.
In his introduction to Mr Ahern, Senator Ted Kennedy paid tribute to the role he had played in helping to bring peace to Ireland.
"All of us who know him and admire him believe he still has much to give to heal our divided world," Mr Kennedy said.
"His greatest legacy may well be the example he sets in the years to come as a peacemaker for other nations struggling to end the brutal sectarian violence in their own lands."
In his speech, Mr Ahern paid tribute to the role of the Kennedy Centre in raising awareness of human rights problems, the resolution of conflicts and the promotion of peace.
"In this the 45th anniversary of the president's visit to Ireland, I am pleased to announce that the John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is to receive Irish Government funding of $2 million to support projects celebrating the shared commitment of Ireland and the United States to President Kennedy's ideals," said Mr Ahern.
He outlined the role American politicians and particularly Senator Kennedy and Jean Kennedy Smith had played in helping to bring an end to violence in Northern Ireland.
"While the road to our peace was a difficult one, it taught us many important lessons about conflict and the ways in which it can be put behind us," the Taoiseach said. "We believe that some of what we have learned may be relevant to conflicts in other parts of the world."
Mr Ahern added that the Irish Government had decided to make conflict resolution one of its key foreign policy priorities for the future.