Britain's Prince Philip is to visit Dublin tomorrow, it emerged this morning.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in Windsor recently
The Duke of Edinburgh, the queen's husband, is to attend an awards ceremony with President Mary McAleese before paying a courtesy call on Taoiseach Bertie Ahern at Government buildings.
The event, in the National Concert Hall at 11am, marks the 21st anniversary of Gaisce - The President's Award and the 50th anniversary of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards.
Mrs McAleese and the duke will jointly present Gold Awards to 90 young people from throughout Ireland.
Following the ceremony, Mrs McAleese will host a private lunch for the duke at Iveagh House.
The visit has fuelled speculation of a visit by Queen Elizabeth to Ireland. It would be the first official visit of a British monarch since 1911.
In December Mrs McAleese said, after her first meeting with the queen on the island of Ireland, the timing of such a visit would be decided by the two governments and by the pace of political developments in the North.
The President and the queen, accompanied by the duke, had scheduled visits in Northern Ireland in December and decided to meet privately in Hillsborough Castle.
The two heads of state met for about half an hour at Hillsborough where they talked privately.