The Taoiseach arrived in New York last night for a four-day St Patrick's week visit to the United States during which he will present the traditional bowl of shamrock to President George Bush at the White House.
Bertie Ahern will attend a number of functions in New York today before travelling to Washington DC in the evening. He will return home on Friday evening and will be in Dublin for St Patrick's Day.
The Taoiseach's programme begins this morning with a breakfast involving representatives of the financial services sector in New York and afterwards he will attend a meeting with the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform.
Later in the morning he will meet the secretary general of the United Nations and will then visit Ground Zero where he will lay a wreath at the memorial to the firefighters who died on September 11th, 2001.
Mr Ahern will then address the Council on Foreign Relations about the position in Northern Ireland and will then do a television interview.
The Taoiseach will fly to Washington for the American Ireland Fund dinner at which he will deliver an address.
Tomorrow morning Mr Ahern will meet US politicians, including Senator Hillary Clinton, the leading contender for the Democratic nomination for next year's presidential election.
The speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, will host a lunch for Mr Ahern on Capitol Hill and it will also be attended by President Bush. After a further series of meetings in the afternoon the Taoiseach will attend a St Patrick's Day reception at the Irish Embassy.
The presentation of the bowl of shamrock to Mr Bush will take place in the White House on Friday morning.
