Many observers talk of a "special relationship" between the US and Great Britain. Another such special relationship also exists - between the US and Ireland. The role of Irish-Americans in supporting our joint efforts was a crucial element of the relationship.

This is an exciting and important time in the long, close and co-operative relationship between Ireland and the US. With a new era hopefully dawning in the North of Ireland, we are on the verge of a new, broader dimension to that bilateral relationship.

For years, the American-Irish relationship has been driven and defined by the search for lasting peace and justice in the North of Ireland, an important and worthy goal in support of the aspirations of the nationalist community in the North of Ireland.

The terms of the Belfast Agreement, if honoured by all the parties and fairly implemented and carried out by both the Irish and UK governments, will inevitably alter the close US-Ireland relationship.

While American interest will never diminish in the situation in the North, the US-Irish special relationship will change depending on what new issues come about from a shared and working consensual governance there. The chance for divergence and difference between our two nations will grow greater and greater.

Being the world's only remaining superpower, the US often views the world differently than other nations, particularly one such as Ireland, a small island nation with a long history of neutrality and significant emigration.

If the issues that are permitted to dominate our relationship are those such as nuclear weapons, capital punishment, the US embargo on Cuba, and the European Union's anxiety about US trade and investment goals on the European continent, then we will find bumps on the road. There are sharp differences in our two nations' thinking on many of these controversial subjects.

We can and must work together to avoid divisions over such contentious issues. If together we agree to focus our energies on issues where we have a common interest, such as tourism, cross-Atlantic trade and UN peacekeeping concerns, then we can make our relationship even stronger in the 21st century.

Let us ensure we take the right direction based on these common issues and concerns, so that our relationship in the future will continue to be defined positively and purposefully. If not, we will regret the damage to our fruitful partnership and foundation of trust.

We also hope the new, prosperous and pro-business Ireland will assist our communication with the European Union - that is, serve as the American gateway into Europe's distant, complex and diverse institutions. We will need the help of Ireland's long-recognised diplomatic acumen to help us navigate the developing requirements and demands emanating from Brussels.

Finally, with Ireland taking the Western European seat on the UN Security Council next year, and its long and distinguished tradition of a commitment to peacekeeping around the world, we will need to work closely together on a common agenda on peacekeeping.

We must together ensure that peacekeeping efforts are effective, efficient and result in a minimum loss of human life. Our two nations have common peacekeeping interests, and both have lost some of our finest people in this cause. We look forward to an ever brighter and better US-Ireland relationship. If we work at managing the direction of that partnership, we can steer it away from the rocky shoals that could become a part of a difficult cross-Atlantic relationship.

Ben Gilman, a Republican Congressman for New York, is chairman of the International Relations Committee in the US House of Representatives