The White House has confirmed that President Clinton will visit Ireland, North and South, early in September. And the official departure of the US ambassador, Ms Jean Kennedy Smith, has been delayed until the visit is completed.
Mr Clinton had been invited earlier this year by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, to visit the Republic and Northern Ireland respectively.
The official confirmation of the Irish trip has been expected since it was announced two weeks ago that the President was making a trip to Moscow for a summit with President Yeltsin.
Mr Clinton had been looking for an opportunity to visit Ireland since the signing of the peace accord last April.
While the precise dates of the Irish visit were not revealed they are expected to be September 3rd and 4th. A presidential game of golf is also said to be on the agenda but no venue has been announced. During his 1995 visit, Mr Clinton had promised to play at Ballybunion with the then Tanaiste, Mr Dick Spring.
The announcement was made while Mr Clinton was visiting New Orleans yesterday. It said the visit would "underscore US strong support for the Good Friday accord and its overwhelming approval by popular vote".
The statement said the visit will "highlight American continuing deep commitment to a peaceful and prosperous future for Ireland and Northern Ireland". The President had "worked closely with the heads of both governments and the leaders of the parties to make this accord a reality".
At first Mr Clinton had hoped to travel to Ireland while he was in Britain for an economic summit last May, but this idea was dropped when it was feared it could disrupt the referendum campaign.
The trip to Moscow now gives Mr Clinton an opportunity to break the return journey to visit Belfast and Dublin.
The announcement of the Irish visit was held back until the turbulence caused by the Drumcree stand-off between the Orange Order and the security forces had subsided. There would have been little chance of an Irish visit going ahead if violence was continuing on a wide scale.
Sources said it was unlikely that the President will want a re-run of the 1995 visit with huge crowds at the Belfast City Hall and College Green in Dublin and a formal address to a joint sitting of the Dail and Seanad.
This second visit will have "something new" and a different message - "now you have a peace agreement and you must ensure it works".
Advance parties from the White House will visit Ireland to work out the details of the visits, North and South. There is speculation that the visit of Mrs Hillary Clinton to Northern Ireland for a woman's conference, "Vital Voices", planned for the autumn could be brought forward to coincide with the President's visit.
Mr Clinton had personally requested that Ms Kennedy Smyth remain for the visit. Her successor, expected to be former Governor Mike Sullivan of Wyoming, has not yet been named so there may not be time for him to be confirmed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before September.