The Taoiseach has called for the rejection of racism and prejudice and the promotion of equality and tolerance.
Speaking at the launch of the Dunbrody replica famine ship in New Ross, Co Wexford, yesterday, Mr Ahern said he hoped the ship would help people to draw on "the rich legacy of our emigrant experience".
"As a country with a sometimes bitter experience of emigration, it seems very important that we remember the hardships and prejudices we faced in the past while we promote equality and tolerance and reject racism and prejudice wherever we find it," he said.
Mr Ahern said a fair and realistic approach to migration policies was consistent with a full openness to cultural diversity.
"The truth is, we are becoming a society of many cultures, and this trend will continue over the coming years."
The Taoiseach quoted President John F. Kennedy who said the world respected a nation that could see beyond its own image.
That meant we needed to recognise the value of openness to other cultures as we built a prosperous, tolerant, multicultural society, Mr Ahern said. He also pointed out that it was President Kennedy who inspired him to become a politician.
The Dunbrody project had reached out to include many different traditions, Mr Ahern said.
"I was interested to learn that it is built with wood from Africa and Ireland and the wood was cut with a saw which came to the project from the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast."
The Taoiseach also paid a warm tribute to the former US ambassador to Ireland, Ms Jean Kennedy Smith, who formally named the vessel.
Ms Kennedy Smith's great grandparents came from New Ross, and her brother, John F. Kennedy, addressed the public on the New Ross quay in 1963, months before his assassination.
"Jean has played a historic role in building peace in Ireland and good relations between Ireland and America in her time with us as ambassador," he said.
Ms Kennedy Smith had raised US-Ireland relations to a new level of trust and shown a single-minded commitment to peace in Ireland, according to Mr Ahern.
"She overruled the State Department in the United States more than once to help us, and it's a brave person that does that. And they gave her stick for it, even after she was gone, and I want to thank Jean for all she's done for us," he said.
