McAleese pays tribute to Tony Blair

President Mary McAleese has conveyed good wishes, on behalf of the people of Ireland, to the outgoing British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair.

In her message to the former Labour Party leader, Mrs McAleese said:

"As you leave Number 10 for the last time, I hope that you will have some opportunity to pause and reflect on the significance of your achievements in Northern Ireland, and know that, as you leave, you take with you the gratitude of the people of Ireland for the ground-breaking work you have performed here during your period as Prime Minister."

Earlier, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern confirmed that Mr Blair will become a envoy to the Middle East after handing over to Gordon Brown.

Praising Mr Blair for his interest in resolving the Northern Ireland issue, Mr Ahern said Mr Blair had confirmed the move to him during a telephone conversation last Friday.

"I spoke to him about this on Friday night when he told me that he was going to take this, until then I think it had been speculation. I can tell you that that's exactly what he is going to do," Mr Ahern told RTE's Morning Ireland.

Mr Ahern when on to say that Mr Blair believed progress could be made in Northern Ireland with consistent direct engagement will all sides.

Mr Ahern said Mr Blair told him the mission would be "tricky, but he believes if there's persistent engagement - it's like in Northern Ireland, where you just have to stay at it. He believes if you have hands-on, persistent engagement then you can have real progress. He is going to put a large amount of his personal time into this after today."

The Taoiseach admitted he would miss the closeness of their working relationship, saying there was not a week in the last 10-years when he had not spoken to Mr Blair at least twice a week.

"I was able to ring him, he rang me."

Despite accusations in Britain of excessive media spin by the Blair administration, Mr Ahern said he found the Prime Minister decisive and informed, especially when dealing with Northern Ireland.

"One of the good thing about him . . . is he makes decisions, he does his own drafting. He is not somebody who is back checking."

"In terms of Northern Ireland when I was involved with him; he knew the people, he knew the issues, he got to know the personalities. He got into deep engagement with the personalities.

"He was never afraid to get into huge amounts of detail. That was why we had all of those long sessions . . . Throughout the process he remained steadfast that we could build trust among the parties and ultimately work towards a lasting peace for the people of Northern Ireland."

Mr Ahern wished Mr Blair well in his knew role and concluded, perhaps wistfully, that he does not know his successor Gordon Brown quite as well.