Bertie Ahern has formally declared the result of a successful independence referendum in the island region of Bougainville, after the former Taoiseach helped oversee the referendum process.
The people of the island voted near unanimously for independence from Papa New Guinea, putting Bougainville on track to become the world's newest nation.
Out of 181,000 votes, almost 177,000 were in favour of independence - with just over 3,000 voting for greater autonomy instead.
Mr Ahern was the chairman of the referendum committee, and he officially declared the result of the vote on Thursday.
VIDEO: Chairman of the #Bougainville Referendum Commission Bertie Ahern announces that 176,928 people -- around 98 percent of voters -- backed independence from Papua New Guinea with just 3,043 supporting the option of remaining with more autonomy pic.twitter.com/dmJCjuY1CY
— AFP news agency (@AFP) December 11, 2019
In a statement after the vote, the commission said: "As an electoral process that aspired to meet international standards, it is for observers, scrutineers and the media, and indeed the people themselves, to determine whether the conduct of the Referendum was inclusive, accessible, free and fair.
"We thank in particular scrutineers, and observers from here and overseas for bringing transparency and credibility to the process, and we look forward to their reports over the coming days and weeks.
"We wish the two governments all the best in taking forward the Referendum result through a process of consultation, and on to the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea for final ratification as part of the ongoing peace process."
The referendum write is now due to be returned to the Governor-General in Port Moresby - the capital of Papua New Guinea - on Friday.
Bougainville is currently an autonomous region of Papa New Guinea, and has a population of around 250,000 people.
A referendum was one of the conditions of a peace agreement signed by leaders of Papua New Guinea and Bougainville in 2001.
The landmark agreement granted the region greater autonomy after years of tension and violence, while also laying out the path to this week's peaceful referendum.
