Britain's Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will begin their first official trip to Ireland later.

Rolling road closures will be in effect over the next three days across parts of Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Galway for the royal visit.

Prince William and Kate Middleton will today travel to a number of places in Dublin – including the Guinness Store House, and meet President Michael D Higgins.

They will also visit the Gardens of Remembrance and Government buildings.

Buckingham Palace has said the visit will “celebrate the UK's ties with one of its closest EU neighbours.”

It comes at a crucial time post-Brexit, with the trip described as an opportunity to build a lasting friendship with the Irish people.

Britain's Prince William and Duchess Kate Middleton, 04-04-2013. Image: RPE-Albert Nieboer

From 2pm to 4pm today, there will be traffic restrictions around the Garden of Remembrance.

From 3pm to 5pm there will be diversions around Government Buildings at Merrion Square.

Then, from 6pm to 9pm this evening, Market Street South and Bellevue in Dublin 8 will be closed to all traffic.

Tomorrow the couple visits community organisations in Temple Bar and Howth in Dublin, Prosperous in Kildare, and Grange in Meath.

On Thursday the trip ends with a visit to Galway and a local GAA club, but Gardaí insist the city centre will remain open for business.

Tourism

Tourism Ireland said the visit is good news for tourism and a “unique opportunity to convince potential holidaymakers in our largest tourism market to visit Ireland during 2020.”

CEO Niall Gibbons said: “This week’s visit by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge is a wonderful opportunity to showcase Ireland to a huge audience of prospective holidaymakers across Britain and has the potential to deliver a boost to Irish tourism.”

“A large media contingent has travelled here to cover the visit, bringing the story to millions of people in Britain, and elsewhere around the world, and providing a truly unique opportunity to highlight Ireland as a wonderful holiday destination.

“Tourism Ireland will take every opportunity to exploit the tourism potential from the extensive publicity around the visit.”

Gardaí said the public can expect temporary rolling road closures in the areas affected, and should leave extra time for their journeys.

Normal operations will continue at Dublin Airport throughout the visit.

Members of the public are asked to the advice and instructions of Gardaí throughout the visit and leave extra time all journeys.

Additional reporting from Shane Beatty