The Taoiseach has described three English soldiers, shot dead for refusing to join Cromwell's forces in Ireland, as "friends of Ireland, in an age when there were few". Mr Ahern made his remarks as the people of Burford, Oxfordshire, where the men were executed, prepare to celebrate Levellers Day today.
Mr Ahern paid tribute to the men - Corporal Perkins, Corporal John Church and Cornet Thompson - in a message of support to the Mayor of Burford, Cllr Keith Davies, and the Levellers Day committee, which commemorates the men's sacrifice each year and is supported by the Connolly Association in Britain.
The soldiers supported the Leveller movement, which sought to develop democracy in England and extend full religious freedom, including tolerance for Catholics in Ireland and England. When they refused to join Cromwell's army in 1649 they were taken to Burford and shot on May 17th.
Mr Ahern paid tribute to the soldiers' support of civil and democratic rights "that we have come to take for granted today . . . relations between our peoples have been transformed, even if there are still some difficulties and problems that need to be tackled".
The Mayor of Drogheda, Cllr Maria O'Brien Campbell, also sent a message of support. The mayor said the Belfast Agreement envisaged enhanced contact between the people of Britain and Ireland, but building trust would not happen overnight. "It is a slow process. If we continue to work together sustainable peace will come slowly but surely," she said.