The Taoiseach today unveiled to the public Ireland's most expensive home - to be used as the first official guesthouse for visiting VIPs.
The palatial Farmleigh demesne - a former home to the senior branch of the Guinness brewing family of the Earls of Iveagh - is situated in Dublin's Phoenix Park and cost £41 million (€52 million) to buy and renovate.
The state bought Farmleigh for £23 million in 1999 and has since funded a lavish refurbishment to bring it up to modern five-star splendour.
Mr Ahern said the new guesthouse "upholds our traditions as a people who place a unique value on hospitality and welcoming strangers and friends.
"I think it is very unlikely that there are many similar city centre facilities of this standard anywhere else in the world."
Until now, visiting VIPs had to be accommodated in hotels.
The first official guests are expected to be a Chinese delegation due to visit Ireland later this year.
The estate will be open to the public at weekends throughout August.
Farmleigh was the last privately owned residence in the park that also contains a zoo and the official residences of President Mary McAleese and the US Ambassador.
When the government purchased Farmleigh it had six reception rooms, 20 bedrooms and 14 bathrooms. It stands on 78 acres (32 hectares) of park land - 25 of them laid out in formal gardens - and has its own lake.
Now the opulent 40,000 square-foot (3,716 square-metre) house has a swimming pool, satellite communications, a fitness centre and a state of the art security system. It will showcase Irish art and design.
Much of the original cornicing and paintwork has remained untouched since the house was completed in 1881 and many of the walls are covered with original tapestries and linen.
AFP