When Taoiseach Bertie Ahern addressed the Joint Meeting of US Congress, he was following in the footsteps of five previous Taoisigh and Irish Presidents.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern - 30 April 2008 - Watch
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told the Joint Meeting of US Congress in Washington of his pride at being the first Irish leader to tell America that 'Ireland is at peace'.
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In 1880, Charles Stewart Parnell became the first person who, in Seán T Ó Ceallaigh's words, addressed Congress 'on behalf of Ireland'.
However, Parnell addressed a one-chamber Congressional reception, as did President of Executive Council of Ireland WT Cosgrave in January 1928 and John A Costello, Taoiseach of the second inter-party Government, in 1956.
Five Irish leaders had previously addressed a Joint Meeting of US Congress.
President Seán T Ó Ceallaigh - 18 March 1959
In March 1959, as his Presidential term drew to a close, Sean T Ó Ceallaigh became the first Irish President to address the Joint Houses of Congress.
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President Eamon De Valera - 28 May 1964 - Watch
Less than a year after John F Kennedy’s triumphant visit to Ireland and just over six months after his assassination in Dallas, President De Valera travelled to the US.
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Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave - 17 March 1976 - Watch
The son of WT Cosgrave, who addressed a one-chamber congressional reception in 1928, Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave arrived in Washington on the bicentennial of the US Declaration of Independence.
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Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald - 15 March 1984 - Watch
In a short 21 minute speech that was punctuated by bursts of applause and followed by a standing ovation, Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald became the 19th foreign leader to address a joint meeting of Congress.
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Taoiseach John Bruton - 11 September 1996 - Watch
The backdrop to John Bruton’s address to the Joint Meeting of Congress in September 1996 was the painstaking efforts, in Ireland, Britain and the US, to build and maintain a fragile peace process.
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The Week In Politics remembers previous speeches to Congress by Irish leaders - Watch
Speaking in February, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said that he was 'deeply honoured and delighted to accept the invitation from Speaker Nancy Pelosi to address a Joint Meeting of Congress on 30 April.
Mr Ahern welcomed the invitation as 'a singular honour for Ireland and one of great historic significance, reflecting the unique friendship between Ireland and the United States over many centuries and which continues to the present day.'
That 'unique friendship' is strengthened by the number of Irish Americans represented in Congress. Find out about some of the more prominent members here.
