US Vice-President Joe Biden is to travel to Ireland next month, it has been confirmed.
The Democrat, who has Irish roots, is expected to spend around four days here on a family trip.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny confirmed the visit last night at the opening gala of the “Ireland 100” festival to mark the 1916 centenary in Washington’s Kennedy Centre.
Standing next to Mr Biden, the Fine Gael leader said: “Tonight we have with us a man who is an eminent Irish American and who in just a few weeks will be coming ‘home’ to Ireland.
“Vice President Joe Biden, you honour us with your presence tonight and we look forward to having you with us in Ireland.
“You’ll see that when we say céad mile failte, a hundred thousand welcomes, we aren’t kidding.”
Speaking about the current state of affairs in Ireland, Mr Kenny referred to the new "partnership government" as one "unique in the history of the country".
"Though of different political backgrounds, we are united in our ambition to have Ireland’s economy and society prosper. We want to put compassion and fairness at the heart of our policy.
"We are also anxious to establish our arts and culture, not as an elegant add-on to what the marketers would call our ‘national offering’.
"Rather we wish them to represent us, as the essence of who we are as a still-young Republic, an ancient people."
Mr Kenny is scheduled to plant an Irish oak tree on the grounds of the US Congress at Capitol Hill today as part of the programme of commemorative events
He will later view documents relating to the Rising at the nearby Library of Congress before attending a reception to celebrate Ireland-US relations in the Capitol building.
