The Northern Ireland poet Paul Muldoon was announced as the winner of the AWB Vincent American Ireland Fund Literary Award last night at a gala dinner attended by the President, Mrs McAleese.
The event, hosted by the Ireland Funds, celebrated the end of the "Hope and History" campaign, which has raised over $100 million in the past five years.
It was held in the residence of the US ambassador to Ireland, Mr James C. Kenny, in the Phoenix Park, Dublin.
The President, Mrs McAleese, said five years ago when she officially launched the Ireland Funds' $100 million "Hope and History" fund-raising campaign, she thought the ambition was well on the far side of extraordinary. "And it was, but importantly you proved that it was possible, not easily, but with the most relentless commitment," she said.
The President said the fund-raisers had known that after the Belfast Agreement the most important job was only just beginning in the resources and support needed to carry it on. She also mentioned the Special Olympics and said the funds' considerable contribution would long be remembered.