Dr Alison O’Malley-Younger was invited to be present when Taoiseach Bertie Ahern addressed a joint session of the House of Commons and the House of Lords at Westminster on 15th May, 2007, at noon.

The address took place before an audience of 500 in the Royal Gallery room.

The Taoiseach's address comes at a time of transformed relations between Ireland and Britain, and a week after the restoration of devolved government in the North.

The Taoiseach is reflected on the shared history between Ireland and Britain and the range of partnerships between the two countries. A significant part of his address was devoted to the co-operation between the two governments in the North peace process. He discussed key figures in events in Irish history and said that was what a past of ‘mutual hostility’ was moving into a present and future devoted to peace. He received two standing ovations.

Mr Blair spoke about the mutual friendship he and Taoiseach  shared; he also pointed out that he and Mr Ahern represented the history of Ireland due to the Taoiseach’s Republicanism and Mr Blair’s background: as he said ‘my maternal grandfather was an Orangeman from Donegal’.

Addressing the joint Houses is a major honour and has been previously bestowed on only 31 world leaders since 1939.

The distinguished list includes Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama and former US presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan.

Other current and previous leaders who have addressed the Commons and Lords during past decades include former Israeli premier Shimon Peres, King Juan Carlos of Spain, Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega, former Russian leader Boris Yeltsin, outgoing French president Jacques Chirac and Australian premier John Howard.

Also on the list is Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Soviet leaders Nikita Khrushchev and Mikhail Gorbachev and Charles de Gaulle of France.

Mr Blair addressed the joint Houses of the Oireachtas in Dublin in November 1998, just months after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.

Dr O’Malley-Younger said, ‘It was a great honour to represent NEICN at an event like this; it was an opportunity to be present as history was being made. I’d like to thank the Embassy of Ireland, and in particular Mr Derek Hannon, Cultural Attache for inviting me. The Embassy have been keen supporters of NEICN, attending our Irish Studies conference every year and sponsoring events. We owe them a debt of gratitude.