US President Barack Obama has said the success of the peace process in Northern Ireland should be a lesson for troubled parts of the world.
After talks with Taoiseach Enda Kenny, the President praised Ireland for its presence and actions on the world stage, saying the country consistently punches above its weight.
President Obama also said that America and Ireland are linked by blood.
“The friendship and the bond between the US and Ireland could not be stronger,” he said.
“For millions of Irish-Americans this continues to symbolise the homeland and the extraordinary traditions of an extraordinary people.”
The President and Mr Taoiseach held talks for about 45 minutes in the state residence, Farmleigh in the Phoenix Park, Dublin after he was welcomed to the country by President Mary McAleese.
Mr Kenny said the discussions focused on the economic situation in Ireland including the banking crisis and the efforts to bring country’s budget under control and also US immigration policy.
The Taoiseach also assured the President that Shannon Airport – a stopover point for US military aircraft moving to Afghanistan – would remain open.
Mr Kenny described it as a “no-change” policy.
The President was given a collection of Hawaiian children’s stories by Irish writer Padraic Colum as gifts for the Obama children, Malia and Sasha.
He was also given a hurley, a stick made from ash and used in the ancient Gaelic sport of hurling.
The President and Mr Taoiseach said there was broad support from the US on the efforts Ireland was making to straighten out its finances.
“We’re glad to see progress is being made in stabilising the economic condition here,” President Obama said.
“We are rooting for Ireland’s success and we will do everything we can to help them on the path to recovery.”
His great-great-great-great-grandfather was a shoemaker in Moneygall and his son, Falmouth Kearney, left for New York in 1850.
Mr Obama has Irish, Kenyan and American roots. Unlike the Queen’s tour, which concluded on Friday, it is not a state visit and will not carry the same degree of ceremony. But it recognises the special ties which many Irish people have with America.
Almost 37 million people in the US claim Irish heritage, most dominantly in cities such as Boston, New York and the President’s political powerbase in Chicago.
President Obama is the sixth President to visit Ireland. The first was John F. Kennedy in 1963. The US is Ireland’s largest trading partner and the country’s investment has created more than 89,000 jobs.
After landing at Dublin airport in Airforce One, Mr Obama and the first lady called on Irish President Mary McAleese at her Dublin residence, the Aras an Uachtarain where they signed the visitor’s book.
The US President also took part in a tree-planting ceremony in the grounds of the Aras before schoolchildren rang the Peace Bell unveiled in the grounds of Aras in 2008 by Ms McAleese to mark the 10th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
The ceremony to plant the Irish oak took place about 50 feet from a sequoia planted in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy.
The President will fly out of Dublin today to start a state visit to the UK.