The chairman of the Northern Ireland peace talks, former Senator George Mitchell, has been presented with the Irish-American Peace Prize for his role in bringing about the Belfast Agreement.
Tickets for the dinner were $1,000 a head. Many of the tables were paid for by US corporations which then invited guests. The event raised $100,000 which will help finance the campaigns of Irish-American Democrats standing in the mid-term Congressional elections next November.
Among the attendance were the US Education Secretary, Mr Richard Riley; Senator Edward Kennedy; Senator Patrick Leahy; Senator Jack Reed; Congressman Richard Neal; Congressman Tom Manton; the Irish Ambassador, Mr Sean O hUiginn; the president of NUI Dublin, Dr Art Cosgrove; and the publisher of the Irish Voice, Mr Niall O'Dowd, who won the award last year.
Mr Mitchell received a human figure carved from bog wood thousands of years old. The figure, sculpted by Mr Liam Clancy of the Celtic Roots Studio in Offaly and donated by Bord na Mona, holds a dove symbolising peace and an ancient scales standing for justice.
Some dancers from Riverdance performed at the dinner.