US Vice President Joe Biden has urged the people in the North of Ireland not to be shaken by the Brexit result.
The North vote 56-44% in favour of remaining in the European Union.
But the overall UK result backed the ‘Leave’ campaign.
Speaking in Dublin at the Ireland Fund’s 40th anniversary dinner last night, he said the decision to leave the EU “introduces some economic uncertainty”.
But he stressed how important it was to continue on the path to peace.
He said that “old habits of mistrust and sectarianism… die hard”.
Mr Biden said that some of the history was “a nightmare” from which people had to move forward from, adding that those involved in the peace process could not “rest on past laurels”.
Mr Biden said there was an onus to “make sure the children of Northern Ireland grow up side by side… never knowing about the nightmare of the Troubles”.
He said it was not “enough for peace to exist on paper”, that much progress had been made but there was “more to go” and that challenges faced could “only be solved by working together”.
Mr Biden also spoke warmly of the Irish-American relationship, saying it was “not a relic of the past, but was a living relationship”.
He said that although his relatives left Ireland in the late 19th century, he grew up in a very Irish home; saying “if you were raised in our household, you’d have thought we never left Ireland”.
Mr Biden is on a six-day visit to Ireland, having arrived on Tuesday evening.
Today, he will visit various locations including the Kilwirra Cemetery in Co Louth and Newgrange in Co Meath.
Mr Biden will return to the US following a lunch with Taoiseach Enda Kenny tomorrow.