Ahern is first Irish PM to address UK parliament

LONDON (Reuters) - Bertie Ahern became the first Irish prime minister to address the British parliament on Tuesday, reflecting sharply improved relations between the two countries and a peace breakthrough in Northern Ireland.

Ahern told a joint session of parliament Britain and Ireland's shared history was largely one of "division and conflict, of conquest, suppression and resistance".

"But now, let us consign arguments over the past to the annals of the past, as we make history instead of being doomed to repeat it," he said. "Ours must and will be the last generation to feel the pain and anger of old quarrels."

Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair saw 10 years of peace-making efforts in Northern Ireland rewarded on May 8 when the British province's main Protestant and Catholic parties launched a power-sharing government.

None of the progress in Northern Ireland could have happened without "the most beneficial transformation in British-Irish relations in over 800 years," Ahern said.

Blair, who is set to resign on June 27, warmly praised Ahern in his introduction, calling him "a man I could always trust".

Ireland's opposition Labour Party has accused Blair of making a serious error of judgment by inviting Ahern to address parliament so close to Ireland's May 24 general election.

Ahern faces an uphill battle to win a third term after it emerged that a British businessman gave 30,000 pounds ($59,320) to Ahern's then partner in 1994. Ahern denies wrongdoing and has published receipts in a bid to fend off further questions.

Ahern said there would be challenges ahead in Northern Ireland but these could now be faced in a climate of peace.

England's involvement in Ireland dates back to the 12th century when King Henry II won papal support to become overlord of Ireland. The 1801 Act of Union made Ireland formally part of the United Kingdom.

Pressure for Irish "home rule" grew and in 1916 a small band of young men in Dublin led the Easter Rising which although doomed to failure inspired others to join the republican cause.

Britain partitioned the island in 1920, separating Northern Ireland with its Protestant majority from predominantly Catholic Ireland which won independence in 1922.

In the 1960s tension in the north boiled over into riots and 3,600 people were killed in the ensuing 30 years of conflict.

Ahern said he hoped to see the island of Ireland united in peace. "But I will continue to oppose with equal determination any effort to impose unity through violence or the threat of violence," he said.

There was no reason why a peaceful and stable Northern Ireland should not achieve similar economic success to that enjoyed by Ireland in recent years, he said. "We are ready to be a partner and friend on the path to economic growth," he added.

(Additional reporting by Paul Hoskins)