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British newspapers praise Ahern after decision to resign

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern drew praise after announcing his resignation from yesterday’s British newspapers for his role in reviving his country’s economy and for promoting peace in Northern Ireland.

The 56-year-old said he would step down next month amid growing pressure over alleged financial irregularities — he has denied any wrongdoing, but said he did not want the charges to distract the focus of government.

According to the Daily Telegraph, “the ignominious manner of Bertie Ahern’s surprise departure from office, tarnished by allegations of financial impropriety, will inevitably detract from the considerable achievements of his 11 years as Irish prime minister.”

“But he deserves credit for leaving his country in a better condition than he found it,” the paper wrote in its editorial.

Ahern oversaw an unprecedented decade-long economic boom during his time as head of three coalition governments, earning long-ailing Ireland the “Celtic Tiger” moniker.

Meanwhile he helped steer British-ruled Northern Ireland away from decades of violence, sealing the landmark 1998 Good Friday agreement and helping set up a power-sharing administration in Belfast last year.

“His inexhaustible patience and considerable courage allowed the Good Friday agreement and then its various added accords to be established,” the Times wrote in an editorial on his resignation.

“The Ahern effect has, nonetheless, registered well beyond the peace process, an enormous triumph for him as it undoubtedly is. He has overseen Ireland’s social and economic renewal,” the newspaper said.

“While the manner of his going is not as dignified as he would have wished, his legacy is an extremely positive one,” it said.

The Independent echoed those sentiments, writing that part of Ahern’s aura of competence “came from his painstaking work in the peace process.”

“His successes in the economy and in the peace process will long be remembered,” the newspaper said. “He was one of those who removed the shadow of the gunman; but the issue of his finances will cast a less welcome shadow on his record.”
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