British reaction: British prime minister Tony Blair last night paid warm tribute to former taoiseach Charles Haughey, recognising his early key role in paving the way for what became the Northern Ireland peace process.
No comment was available from former prime minister Baroness Thatcher, who famously "never forgave" Mr Haughey for opposing European sanctions against Argentina at the time of the Falklands War.
However, one senior Whitehall source involved in Northern Ireland at the time recalled Mr Haughey's "teapot diplomacy" at his first summit meeting with Margaret Thatcher in 1980.
He recalled that the summit - at which Mr Haughey presented his host with the gift of a Georgian silver teapot - "marked the beginning of the end of megaphone diplomacy" and the commencement of "a regular process in which taoisigh and prime ministers would meet other than in the context of a crisis in or about Northern Ireland".
In his statement issued through the Downing Street press office, Mr Blair said this process had proved vital in bringing conflict in Northern Ireland to an end.
The prime minister said: "Charles Haughey played a vital role in helping initiate the process of dialogue between Britain and Ireland that has transformed relations between the two countries so completely in the past 30 years. That process played a crucial part in helping bring the Troubles to an end."
Mr Blair's predecessor, Sir John Major, also paid personal tribute. "I did not know Charles Haughey well, but in the handful of exchanges we had, he was keen to talk about how we could establish a peace process."
Lord (James) Molyneaux of Killead acknowledged Mr Haughey's part in helping transform political relationships between Britain, Northern Ireland and the Republic, confirming for the first time that they maintained a direct line of contact during critical periods in their respective leaderships of the Ulster Unionist Party and Fianna Fáil.
Lord Molyneaux, who led the UUP from 1979 to 1995, said he had considered it important that "a line of contact" was maintained, confirming that he had personally spoken to Mr Haughey from time to time over a lengthy period, where it had previously been speculated that any limited contact might have been maintained by a clerical intermediary.