Redemptorist priest Alec Reid, who witnessed IRA weapons decommissioning and urged Basque separatists to call a ceasefire, has been honoured in an awards ceremony in Belfast.
Father Alex Reid received the Person of the Year accolade at the annual Aisling awards in the city.
Fr Reid was one of two clergymen who last year witnessed the Provisional IRA's final acts of disarmament.
He is based in Clonard Monastery in west Belfast and played a key role in the early stages of the Northern Ireland peace process.
Born in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, he was ordained a Redemptorist priest in 1957 and has been based in Belfast for 40 years.
In 1988, he was thrust into the public spotlight as he administered last rites to two British army corporals pulled from a car and murdered by a mob at an IRA funeral. The incident left a huge impression on him and he worked to end violence.
In the late 1980s, Fr Reid facilitated talks between former SDLP leader John Hume and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams. He also acted as a contact between Sinn Féin and the Irish Government.
The dialogue between Mr Hume and Mr Adams eventually led to the 1994 IRA ceasefires which helped kickstart the process leading to the 1998 Belfast Agreement.
Fr Reid, who has also been involved in the Basque peace process, hit the headlines for the wrong reasons last year when during an angry exchange with victims campaigner Willie Fraser he compared the treatment of unionists by nationalists to the treatment of the Jews by the Nazis.
The guest of honour at the awards ceremony, organised by the Andersonstown News Group in Belfast's Europa Hotel, was the US Congressman Martin Meehan who has been on a two-day visit to the city.
The West Belfast-born singer and novelist, Brian Kennedy, was also among the guests at the ceremony which honoured individuals in business, culture and art, inter-community activity and sport.
A special roll of honour award was presented to Irish language campaigner and activist Gearóid Ó Cairealláin, who was discharged from hospital for the ceremony. He suffered a stroke last July.