President Michael D Higgins has led tributes to Jimmy Carter, who died yesterday aged 100, saying he will be remembered as a principled man who dedicated his life to seeking to advance the cause of peace.
In a statement, President Higgins said Mr Carter's greatest legacy will be his "distinguished record and commitment to human rights in the decades following his Presidency".
He praised the work of Mr Carter's organisation The Carter Center along with his voluntary work with charities such as Habitat for Humanity.
Both Taoiseach Simon Harris and Tánaiste Micheál Martin praised Mr Carter's engagement regarding peace in Northern Ireland.
Simon Harris said Jimmy Carter was a keen supporter of peace in Ireland and a "respected voice on the road to the Good Friday Agreement".
Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson said Jimmy Carter was a "very special, very religious, very driven person," but added that he was driven by the "huge moral compass of his values."
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mary Robinson said she met Mr Carter before he became president at a meeting for the Trilateral Commission in Tokyo in 1975.
"I followed his presidency very closely, and I still think he is underestimated. I mean, he was an extraordinary man in his knowledge and understanding of the environment, for example. He created a huge national park in Alaska, and he even put solar panels on the White House."
"But he was also a great human rights man. On behalf of the United States, he signed the international covenant, on economic social rights, which America has never ratified."
Carter lived life 'measured not by word, but by deeds' - Biden
US President Joe Biden said Jimmy Carter "lived a life measured not by words, but by his deeds," in televised remarks addressing the death of the former US leader.
Mr Carter died yesterday afternoon at the age of 100, after nearly two years in hospice care.
President Biden also confirmed a state funeral would be held for Jimmy Carter on 9 January.
Mr Biden's tribute, like many that came in from US and global leaders, focused on Mr Carter's character, with the outgoing president describing his predecessor as seeming to be from a "bygone era."
"Just look at his life, his life's work," Mr Biden said, speaking from the US Virgin Islands, where he was on vacation. "He worked to eradicate disease, not just at home, but around the world.
"He forged peace, advanced civil rights, human rights, and promoted free and fair elections around the world. He built housing for the homeless with his own hands," he added.
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Mr Carter rose from humble beginnings in rural Georgia to lead the nation from 1977 to 1981, and went on to win a Nobel Peace Prize in his active post-presidential life.
Mr Carter was swept from office in 1981 in an electoral landslide as voters embraced Republican challenger Ronald Reagan, the former actor and California governor.
Along the way, he earned a reputation as a better former president than he was a president - a status he readily acknowledged.
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His one-term presidency was marked by the highs of the 1978 Camp David accords between Israel and Egypt, bringing some stability to the Middle East.
His nonprofit Carter Center, founded in 1982, pursued diplomacy, election observations and public health work around the world.
The Carter Center confirmed that Mr Carter passed away yesterday afternoon in Plains, Georgia.
"My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love," said Chip Carter, the former president's son.
"My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs," he said.
"We'd all do well to try and be a little more like Jimmy Carter."
Known for his toothy smile, Mr Carter said basic Christian tenets such as justice and love served as the bedrock of his single-term presidency.
"The rest of the world looks to us... and he was worth looking to," Mr Biden said.
The remarks came as Mr Biden is preparing to move out of the White House, with Republican rival Donald Trump set to take office in January after beating Mr Biden's vice president Kamala Harris in a caustic and bruising campaign.
"Some look at Jimmy Carter and see a man of a bygone era with honesty and character, faith and humility," the 82-year-old Mr Biden said.
"But I don't believe it's a bygone era. I see a man not only of our times, but for all times, someone who embodied the most fundamental human values we can never let slip away," he added.
"We'd all do well to try and be a little more like Jimmy Carter."
Mr Carter was the oldest living ex-US leader and the nation's longest-lived president - an outcome that seemed unlikely back in 2015 when the Southern Democrat revealed he had brain cancer.
But the US Navy veteran and fervent Christian repeatedly defied the odds to enjoy a long and fruitful post-presidency, after four years in the Oval Office often seen as disappointing.
His wife, Rosalynn Carter, died on 19 November 2023, at age 96.
Mr Carter is survived by the couple's four children, three sons and a daughter.
Carter 'a remarkable man', ambassador says
US Ambassador to Ireland Claire Cronin said that Jimmy Carter will be remembered as a humanitarian and a man guided by his faith.
"He was a very good man, I would call him a statesman, he had a life of service."
Speaking about his 1977 statement on Northern Ireland, she said that him being the first US president to make such a formal statement "set the tone" and established a precedent for future presidents to get involved in the peace process.
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"That was the foundation that led President Clinton to go on and establish a special envoy...his issuing that statement really triggered the US involvement in it."
She said that Mr Carter was driven by his faith, was focused on public service and led had an incredibly meaningful life, especially post presidency.
"Some of his best work we saw post-presidency...his efforts on behalf of Habitat for Humanity, his continued involvement in his church and community, the Carter Institute, all the did to focus on fair elections in marginalised countries, democracy, his quest to cure disease in Africa.
"He was quite a remarkable man so it is a sad day for all of us in the United States."
