Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has received an honorary doctorate from Le Moyne College in New York State in recognition of his work on the peace process.
Introducing the Taoiseach yesterday, US congressman Jim Walsh said the Taoiseach had made an extraordinary effort over the last eight years despite major difficulties.
"It has been difficult, tedious, where at times we have gone one step forward and two steps backwards in the peace process," he said.
The congressman, who is chairman of the Friends of Ireland group on Capitol Hill in Washington, said that the Taoiseach had presided over some dramatic changes in the Irish economy.
"The tax and financial changes he made during his time as minister for finance help to create the economy that Ireland has today, where it is, not only one of the richest countries in Europe, but one of the richest countries in the world."
Paying tribute to Mr Walsh, the Taoiseach said he had offered "unwavering support" for the peace process since he became chairman of the Friends of Ireland group.
The Taoiseach said the Good Friday agreement had been "a key driver" for changes in policing criminal justice, human rights, equality and community relations.
Pointing to the latest report produced by the Oversight Commissioner, Tom Considine, who routinely examines the performance of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the Taoiseach said that the PSNI was "well on its way" towards being a police service which was capable of attracting and sustaining support from the entire community in Northern Ireland.
He said the Oversight Commissioner had found in his latest report that there was "nowhere else in the world where progress has been so quick".
Referring to the killing of Robert McCartney in Belfast, the Taoiseach said the brutal murder would suggest that some people had yet to fully embrace the agreement's requirements for peace and democracy.
"These destructive activities not only destroy lives and communities but call into question a declared commitment to the pursuit of political objectives through exclusively peaceful and democratic means," the Taoiseach said.
