Jack O'Connor, President of Siptu

The most important aspect of his legacy is the peace process. The scale of that achievement cannot be overstated because of the enormous beneficial effect for the future of everyone who lives in this country.

Otherwise, his contribution on the economy is somewhat contradictory in that he was central to the strategy for recovery in 1987 which mobilised the entire country. But unfortunately since 1997, when he decided to ride in with those who were mesmerised by the market, things have changed and the outcome is there for all to see.

I don't know whether this was his view at the time or whether it was a matter of political necessity to link up with the PDs, bankers and developers.

Personally, I found him very skilful, diplomatic or the quintessential mediator, but inscrutable and a person you would never get to know.

His legacy deserves objective analysis not just to be fair to an individual but because we need to learn from history. What is happening instead is that the positive aspects of his contribution such as partnership are being blamed for the mess by the very market interests who got us into the mess in the first place.

Louis Copeland, Tailor

Obviously he didn't have a great sense of dress, but when he got the big job he had to go up a few gears and we dressed him up. He was never really interested in clothes and the problem was that he was a big size and then a small size. He would go on a diet and lose a bit of weight and sometimes he would wear the big size when he was small and the small size when he was big. We might have sold him the infamous canary suit but not to be worn in that order. He should have worn a dark jacket with bright trousers or vice versa. People slag him now and all that, but I would have known the amount of hard work he put in. If he was as bad as people say he was it took them a long time to find out. He probably made a few mistakes like everyone else, but let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Eamon Dunphy, Broadcaster

I wrote a piece in 2004 in which I praised him for all of his enormous achievement. It was just after he brokered the deal on EU expansion. It was remarkable having been a leading figure in the Good Friday Agreement and having kept two coalition governments together and then three. He was a very skilled operator but subsequent revelations in the Mahon tribunal were very disturbing and we don't know what the outcome of that will be. He became a laughing stock. He and his party have left the country in ruins because of their recklessness. Taxes were being boosted by a false property bubble and not to have seen that as a former minister for finance is unforgiveable. His achievements are there in terms of achieving power and brokering peace, but that has to be showed against what he didn't do and how he put his party before the country. He was a political giant but I don't think history will judge him that kindly.

Mandy Johnston, Former government press secretary

He was an extremely nice man to work for, deeply courteous to all of his staff. As a staff member in that kind of office, you need the person to be available to you at all times, and he was always available. I'd be calling him from 7am until 11.30pm at night and there was never a time he wasn't available. He was very respectful of the Office of Taoiseach and he knew he had a great responsibility. He had impeccable manners as a boss. I never ever saw Bertie lose his temper. He was very patient. He is a very optimistic person. I don't think he'll look back and be negative about his contribution. It's very understandable that people are very angry because of the situation with the country, but he made a significant contribution to the nation generally and history will be kinder to him than maybe current analysts are. I don't think his resignation is sad. He was a very good taoiseach for a very long time. He did his job well and worked as hard as anyone could humanly work. Any regrets he has were that, when he left the office of taoiseach, he didn't have the chance to rectify the economic situation of the country, that he wasn't there to put the shoulder to the wheel and work things out and I'd say that's his only regret now.

The Rubberbandits, Hip-hop comedy collective

Bertie Ahern, through his use of horses to bring the 300-year war between the north and south of Ireland to an end in 1982 with Bobby Sands, will always have a warm place in our hearts. Chalk it down. We'd like to wish him all the best, even though he was responsible for sacking Minister for Gee Willie O'Dea when he wasn't able to look after The Fence. We fully support him in following his dream to win X Factor 2011. Bertie Ahern: dats Limerick City kid. Yurt.

Mick Wallace, Developer

I think he epitomises Irish politicians who leave a lot to be desired. We've come to realise that we haven't been well served by our politicians, particularly in last 20 years and I think Bertie is a very good example of that. The recession started for us in September 2007, and 18 months after that he was still flying around the world and getting paid serious money to talk about what a wonderful job was made of the Irish economy. But in actual fact, how our economy was run was a disaster. At the end of the great boom from 1998 to 2007 there were still 19% of people in Dublin living on less than 50% of the average income, which is the poverty line.

Roisin Shortall, Labour Party TD

His legacy has been to engender a culture in certain parts of the public and private realm whereby greed and self-interest are valued more highly than integrity and the public good. We've been left with a vacuum in the value system of Irish society, a crippling national debt and the debasement of politics. It will take considerable political leadership and time to recover from the Ahern era.

Moore McDowell, Economist

History will be unkind to Bertie Ahern, but it would be unfair to blame him alone for the economic mess in which the country finds itself. He was head of a government that also included Charlie McCreevy and Brian Cowen. But to say that the financial regulator never phoned to warn about the problems coming down the road was a poor attempt to shift the blame.

So, he is culpable but not on his own. The peace process in Northern Ireland was another thing entirely, though he will be given more credit than he deserves on this. Ahern's dedication to the process and his personality were critical in securing the Good Friday Agreement, but he couldn't have achieved without the work of his predecessors like John Bruton, Albert Reynolds and Charles Haughey.

He will be remembered as having headed a disastrous administration in terms of the economy – something that goes all the way back to the years before he became Taoiseach, including signing the Maastricht Treaty and joining the euro. I would advise him to retire, enjoy the pension and forget about the Park.

Mary Fitzpatrick, Fianna Fáil councillor

Despite being in the same party and the same constituency as him, Bertie Ahern is as much as a mystery to me as he is to anybody else. Clearly he identifies his legacy as being the Northern Ireland peace process and his phenomenal electoral record, both personally and for the party.

The peace process is there for us all to witness and celebrate and I know how effective his electoral machine could be.

Commentators have levelled much criticism at his door, but ultimately it will be a matter for historians and students of politics to determine his lasting political legacy.

Nell McCafferty, Journalist

The north is his priceless legacy, the Mahon tribunal is his grubby epitaph and my shrinking private pension fund is a daily reminder that it was his stupid economy.

I note that he still wants the big house in the park. That is probably key to his ultimate motivation and I would welcome the chance to give the people's verdict on his money grabbing impulses.

History will judge him by the number of business people who took his advice and committed suicide.