President Mary McAleese today received an honorary degree from one of Scotland's oldest universities.
Mrs McAleese became a Doctor of Laws at a graduation ceremony to mark 300 years since Edinburgh University's first chair in Law was established.
University vice-principal, professor Vicki Bruce, heaped praise upon the president, who is also a barrister and a former professor of law.
She said: "Throughout her academic, journalistic, legal and presidential career, Mary McAleese has been a voice of reform and reason, seeking educated and enlightened contemporary solutions to problems that go back many generations.
"Initially feared by the loyalists in Northern Ireland, she is now greatly respected by them. "She has taken a profoundly personal and individual approach to building trust between the different communities in Ireland who have been divided in the past.
"Mary McAleese has served her people intelligently and empathetically for almost 10 years.
"Politicians often speak of changing hearts and minds. Mary McAleese uses her own heart and mind in the difficult process of engaging other peoples."
Lord Justice-Clerk Lord Gill and the South African lawyer and former anti-apartheid campaigner Justice Albie Sachs also received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws at the same ceremony.