Bertie Ahern was first elected to the Dáil (Parliament) in 1977, he was Minister for Labour from March 1987 to November 1991 and was appointed Minister for Finance on three separate occasions from November 1991 to December 1994.
He has served as Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister), Minister for Arts, Culture & the Gaeltacht and Minister for Industry and Commerce at various stages. His first ministerial appointment was as Government Chief Whip and Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach and at the Department for Defense in 1982.
Bertie Ahern was a member of Dublin City Council from 1978 to 1988 and had the honour of serving as Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1986 to 1987. In November 1994 he was elected leader of his party Fianna Fáil and served as Leader of the Opposition from then until June 1997. He was first elected Taoiseach (Prime Minister) in June 1997, he was re-elected in June 2002 and again in May 2007.
In 1997 Bertie Ahern received widespread praise for his political skills in ensuring that this administration served it’s full five year term and delivered on real political and economic progress for the Irish people. A defining moment of this period, and in Irish history, was the successful negotiation by Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair of the Good Friday Agreement between the British and Irish Governments and the political parties in Northern Ireland in April 1998. He was re-elected Taoiseach (Prime Minister) in June 2002.
These years were a period of unprecedented economic growth and social change in Ireland. It was also a period of continuing and intense engagement with the Northern Ireland peace process. On 8th May 2007 those years of work paid a rich dividend when a power sharing Administration was established in Northern Ireland. After nine years of unstinting political commitment this historic event represented the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and a great triumph for Mr Ahern, Mr Blair and the leaders of the Northern Ireland parties. On 14 June, 2007, following a general election which saw his party, Fianna Fáil, returned to power Mr Ahern was elected as Taoiseach (Prime Minister) for the third time.
On the wider world stage during his Presidency of the European Council from January 2004 to June 2004 Bertie Ahern presided over the historic enlargement of the European Union to 27 member states including eight countries from Eastern Europe. He led Ireland to take leadership roles on key global issues such as increasing aid to developing countries and tackling the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Bertie Ahern’s achievements as a leader at home and abroad have been recognised internationally. He has been conferred with honorary degrees by several universities and is one of only five people to enjoy the great distinction of having been invited to address both the Houses of Parliament at Westminster and the Houses of Congress of the United States in Washington D.C.
Mr Ahern has been involved in negotiations for most of his life. From industrial relations issues in his early years including major legislation reform. As Minister for Finance he led the negotiations on the agreement of the Maastricht agreement and as President of the European Council he achieved consensus of the 27 countries to a European constitution. Over his entire career he has been central to reconciliation and negotiation on several fronts.
Since leaving Government in 2008 Bertie Ahern had dedicated his time to Conflict Resolution and is actively involved with many groups around the world.
• Co-Chair of The Inter Action Council.
• Member of the Clinton Global Initiative.
• Member of the International Group dealing with the Conflict in the Basque Country.
• Honorary Adjunct Professor of Mediation and Conflict Intervention in NUI Maynooth
• Member of the Kennedy Institute of NUI Maynooth.
• Member of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, Berlin.
• Member of the Varkey Gems Foundation Advisory Board.
• Member of Crisis Management Initiative..
• World Economic Forum Agenda Council on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution.
• Senior Advisor to the International Advisory Council to the Harvard International Negotiation
Program.
• Member of the Democratic Progress Institute Council of Experts.
• Director of Co-operation Ireland joint Board of British/Irish Government.
