Former US president Mr Bill Clinton was given a standing ovation by several hundred guests when he made a surprise appearance at the Top 100 Irish American awards at New York's Plaza Hotel on Thursday.
Despite falling ratings over controversial pardons he gave on his last day in office, Mr Clinton remains a warm favourite with the Irish-American community and he was loudly cheered when he said, "Our country must continue to be a partner in the Irish peace process."
Mr Clinton, making a rare public appearance since leaving office in January, arrived unexpectedly to stand in for his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who had agreed to present the main awards but was delayed in Washington by a Senate vote and arrived late.
The award of Irish American of the Year went to Dr Jerri Nielsen, born Jerri Lynn Cahill, author of the best-selling book Ice Bound, in which she described having to administer a biopsy and chemotherapy on herself after discovering she had breast cancer when taking part in a year-long scientific expedition at the South Pole.
When the self-administered treatment didn't work, her life was saved by the volunteer crew of the 109th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard who landed a Hercules despite a ground blizzard and took her out. The crew of the Hercules turned up in uniform for the Top 100 ceremony, organised annually by the publishers of Irish America magazine, Mr Niall O'Dowd and Ms Patricia Harty.
Another award winner, Ms Elizabeth Murray, a former homeless teenager from the Bronx who is now at Harvard University, brought her street friends to the stage and gave the Waterford crystal award to her younger sister rather than keep it herself.
Both Ms Murray's parents were crack addicts and when they split up she found herself on the streets, sleeping on park benches and begging. After her mother died of AIDS in 1996, she managed to get accepted by a high school where she won a scholarship to the top university in the US.
The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, praised Mr Clinton's contribution to achieving the Good Friday agreement, and said the Government was greatly heartened by the "commitment of President George W. Bush to consolidate the advances already made".
They now "had greater clarity on how we can move forward" and "the two governments' agreement on the implementation of police reforms should be reached by next June".
Mr Clinton said the US "must continue to be a strong partner in the Irish peace process and make the promise of a better future in Northern Ireland a reality. We must continue to invest in the future."
Senator Clinton said "we have a lot of hard work ahead of us" in implementing the Good Friday accord and urged the US to continue to provide economic support for the agreement.