The peace process in Northern Ireland in the wake of the Belfast Agreement 10 years ago transformed the relationship between Britain and Ireland from one of difficulty and disagreement to "vibrant, modern relationship", Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said today.
Mr Ahern said it was the ending of violence that allowed progress to happen and that violence should never again be used to advance political aims in our country.
He was addressing the Institute of British-Irish Studies conference at University College Dublin.
Marking the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Belfast Agreement on April 10th 1998, Mr Ahern said the agreement was in some ways an ending - an end to sustained conflict and the culmination of long and intensive negotiations.
"It also marked a new beginning, a new era of peace and mutual respect," he said. "The negotiations leading up to the agreement took place against a backdrop of sectarian murders and political discord.
"The spate of killings - and in particular the murders in March 1998 of close friends Philip Allen and Damien Trainor in Poyntzpass - affected everyone deeply and brought home to all of us just how high the stakes were.
"We faced enormous challenges – to remove the causes of conflict, to overcome the legacy of history and to heal the divisions of the past. The only way this could be achieved was through a comprehensive agreement taking into account the totality of relationships on these islands and taking on the big institutional issues that for so long had caused such alienation."
Mr Ahern said a new ethos was also needed - "an ethos of tolerance, reconciliation, equality and mutual respect - to underpin that agreement".
He said many of the commitments made in the Agreement involved "taking difficult decisions in the white heat of negotiation" in the final days leading up to the signing date.
"They involved difficult choices for the negotiators, having to accept unpalatable elements of the agreement in recognition of their importance to others."
"Throughout all of this process, the relationship between Britain and Ireland has been transformed from one of difficulty and disagreement to a vibrant modern relationship based on strong economic and cultural links and a shared vision for a peaceful future. . . At its heart, the agreement was about securing lasting change in how the two traditions on this island live and interact with each other."
Mr Ahern noted that although loyalist paramilitary groups have begun "processes of transformation", they have "unfortunately not decommissioned and a minority of people remain wedded to criminality".
"For our part, we remain committed to helping loyalist communities move beyond the conflict of the past and to share in the peace and prosperity which is the birthright of all the people of Northern Ireland. We applaud the leadership shown by many people in those communities who are moving on and are working daily with the rest of us to make a better future," he said.
Mr Ahern said the conflict was evidence of the "futility of violence".
"Thousands of people died, thousands more were injured. Thousands of families were left broken and grieving – without fathers or mothers, sons or daughters, brothers or sisters. Whatever the circumstances, whatever the motivation, whatever the hurt felt before hurt was caused, none of that violence was justified."
Mr Ahern said that none of the hatred and the conflict had "advanced the interests and aspirations of our people, on any side".
"It was the ending of violence that allowed progress to happen. Let us honour the dead by ensuring that never – never – again do we see violence used to advance political aims in our country."