The Northern Ireland peace process was an example to the world, President Clinton told a cheering crowd in Armagh last night as he ended the first day of his visit to both parts of the island.
"When I go now to other troubled places," he said, "I point to you as proof that peace is not an idle daydream, for your peace is real and it resonates around the world."
Mr Clinton flew to Dublin late last night. After staying overnight at the official residence of the US Ambassador to Ireland, Ms Jean Kennedy Smith, in the Phoenix Park, he will go to Government Buildings for talks with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and senior Ministers this morning.
Mr Ahern will fully brief the US President on his range of security measures passed through the Dail and Seanad in the last two days.
After an hour-long meeting, the two leaders will cross St Stephen's Green for a reception hosted by Mr Ahern and his partner, Ms Celia Larkin, at the headquarters of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
In their addresses, both men will speak about the links between them and their countries during the peace process.
After lunch, Mr Ahern and Mr Clinton will make a further joint appearance at the Gateway 2000 computer factory, on an industrial estate near Dublin airport. There they will make hi-tech history by becoming the first two national leaders to seal a joint communique using electronic signatures, rather than the traditional pen and ink.
In his keynote speech in Northern Ireland yesterday, the President pledged US political and economic support for further consolidation of the peace process and the implementation of the Belfast Agreement. "America is with you," he said. "The entire world is with you."
The President outlined a programme of action for the North's politicians, including decommissioning of weapons, formation of an executive council, changes in policing, an end to paramilitary beatings, the early release of prisoners, the strengthening of human rights and pursuit of equality measures.
He also called on the people of Northern Ireland to grasp the opportunity for peace: "Do not let it slip away. It will not come again in our lifetimes. Give your leaders the support they need to make the hard but necessary decisions."
Sharing a platform with President Clinton at Belfast's Waterfront Hall, the First Minister, Mr David Trimble, gave his strongest hint yet that he was prepared to work with Sinn Fein to consolidate the peace process, but he warned that "each part of the agreement, including decommissioning, must be implemented".
Mr Trimble is expected to secure the approval of his colleagues in the Ulster Unionist Party leadership at the weekend for a meeting with the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, next week.
The British Prime Minister paid full tribute to Mr Clinton's role in the peace process. "There's no President of the USA that has done more for peace in Northern Ireland than you," Mr Blair said.
Later, Mr Clinton expressed his strong approval of the statement issued by Mr Adams, proposing that violence be a "thing of the past, over, done with and gone". Mr Clinton said these words "were music to the ears all across the world and they pave the way for the progress still to come."
After a private meeting with the President, Mr Adams said they had discussed the need to move urgently to establish the executive and other bodies provided for in the agreement.
Mr and Mrs Clinton had an emotional meeting with relatives of the Omagh bomb victims in the town's leisure centre. They laid a wreath and unveiled a plaque near the site of the blast which claimed the lives of 28 people.
In his Belfast speech, Mr Clinton expressed the belief that the Omagh bomb would be followed by others. "The terror in Omagh was not the last bomb of the Troubles; it was the opening shot of a vicious attack on the peace."
As speculation grew about an imminent widespread swoop by the police forces, North and South, on suspected members of the `Real IRA', and reports that prison space was being cleared for a fresh intake, the organisation's political counterpart complained of harassment and threats by mainstream republicans.
The 32 County Sovereignty Movement said "fellow republicans" had threatened its supporters. "This sullies the name of republicanism and we want these people to stop making threats against us," the organisation said.
Republican Sinn Fein, which is politically aligned with the Continuity IRA, protested against the "highly co-ordinated intimidation of members of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement by groups of Provisionals".
It stressed it had no links with the 32 County group.