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 Irish Prime Minister 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 United States and Ireland could not be stronger," he said. "Obviously it is not just a matter of strategic interests. It's not just a matter of foreign policy, for the United States and Ireland carries a blood lineage.
"For millions of Irish-Americans this continues to symbolise the homeland and the extraordinary traditions of an extraordinary people."
The President and Prime Minister 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 Prime Minister 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.
"I want to express to the Irish people how ... inspired we have been by the progress made in Northern Ireland because it speaks to the possibilities of peace and people in long-standing struggles to be able to re-imagine their relationships," he said.
Mr Obama later set foot in his ancestral home in Ireland - Moneygall, Co Offaly - where up to 3,000 people lined the streets to welcome him home. Mr Obama's great-great-great-great-grandfather was a shoemaker in the rural village and his son, Falmouth Kearney, left for New York in 1850.
