Mr Bertie Ahern, who tendered his resignation as Taoiseach last night, has made an extraordinary contribution to the advance of this State in many spheres during his eleven years in high office.
He played a phenomenal role in bringing about peace in Northern Ireland; he presided over the best of the Celtic Tiger years which define Ireland's position, strategically and economically, in the world today; he unified his party in the wake of the disastrous and damaging divisions of the 1980s; he espoused consensus, not just in successive national wage agreements but on the greater European stage; and, he excelled at the art of politics by embracing coalition and making Fianna Fáil indispensible to the formation of government for the forseeable future.
His achievements, to coin the phrase of the celebrity culture in which he lives, are awesome. Cumulatively, historians will judge whether they exceed those of any other Fianna Fáil leader or Taoiseach in their day. His place in Irish history is guaranteed. His electoral success, the real test of any party leader, comes closest to that of Eamon de Valera. It could be argued that his performance exceeds de Valera's in one important respect because he held office for three terms without ever winning an overall majority for Fianna Fáil. His lasting legacy is the achievement of the Belfast Agreement which led him to claim in his address to the Joint Houses of Congress in the United States last week: "I am so proud, Madam Speaker, to be the first Irish leader to inform the United States Congress: Ireland is at peace".
Unlike the eleven Taoisigh to preceed him, Bertie Ahern earned the respect of the people in the manner in which he grasped the opportunities presented to him. His support from the people was hard won by achievement in many different spheres. And, over-riding it all, there was an affection for his affability, his ordinariness, his common touch. He was always a man of the people. He struck a chord with voters: businessmen and Belfast men, trade union activists and members, women and separated families, culchies and North Dublin Dubs.
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There is no doubt that his historic achievement was the successful negotiation of the Belfast Agreement and the bedding down of the peace process which, on his resignation, has a devolved, multi-party coalition government in operation in Northern Ireland controlled by the extremes of Dr Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party and Gerry Adams's Sinn Fein. This development may not have happened without the presence of Mr Ahern. While other pary leaders had the grand vision to dare imagine a possible solution - Garret FitzGerald with the Anglo-Irish-Agreement in 1985, John Hume and Seamus Mallon with the Hume-Adams talks, Albert Reynolds with his persistent quest for peace and the IRA ceasefire and Dick Spring with the Downing Street Declaration - Mr Ahern was the man to deliver on the day. He was the right man in the right place at the right time.
He may not have had the vision of his predecessors to construct the framework for peace, but his particular skills came into play in the intense negotiations to follow. He achieved the consensus to bring the peace process forward, not just in constitutional, administrative and political terms, but he built up a relationship with the unionists, a trust between Dr Paisely and himself, the likes of which has never been seen before. He has transformed the North/South and the Anglo/Irish relationship.
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On the home front, Mr Ahern had hugely significant achivements also. He presided over the best of the Celtic Tiger years when this State witnessed wealth beyond our wildest dreams; greater educational opportunity; the intake of ten per cent of our population as new immigrants; and the sustained benefit of a strong relationship with the social partners. But, there are two areas, in retrospect now, where he did not make progress: on the health service and on infrastructual develoment. Much, much more could have been done earlier to reform the health service and to provide a transport system adequate to the expansion of our population and our economy.
In his years as Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil, Bertie Ahern brought politicis to a fine art. He inherited a deeply divided party after the Haughey years and made it whole again. He crafted coalition governments to suit the electoral mood of the day. He introduced the concept of the five-year term of office. He did the unthinkable by bringing the Green Party into the current coalition arrrangement even when their numbers were not strictly needed. In the process, he has made Fianna Fáil almost indispensible to government-formation.
Yet, any honest attempt to assess the legacy of Bertie Ahern must record that there was another side to the man. He espoused a set of political standards for others that he did not live by himself. He had to resign, in the end, because of his handling of matters before the Mahon Tribunal relating to the controversial payments he received when he was Minister for Finance. He was caught by the culture of a former time. He breached a trust with the people today.
His departure marks the end of the Haughey era. Unlike his mentor, however, Mr Ahern did this State considerable service over many, many years. He lived for politics. And when history comes to be written, Bertie Ahern will be remembered for the political achievments of a lifetime far more than the squalid stories about his monies.