The Government is set to end more than two years of controversy over a memorial to Irish soldiers who died in the first World War by promising to share responsibility for its upkeep with the authorities in Northern Ireland.
The Office of Public Works (OPW) and its Northern counterpart will complete the landscaping of the site around the memorial tower in the Belgian town of Messines and take care of it in perpetuity.
The memorial was inaugurated by the President, Mrs McAleese, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth and King Albert of Belgium in November 1998. But it has been the focus of criticism ever since because of a botched landscaping attempt and poor maintenance.
Mr Paddy Harte, one of the originators of the project, known as the Island of Ireland Peace Park, expressed delight at the Government's decision to assume responsibility.
"I'm over the moon about this. Not alone does this solve the financial issue of collecting money to maintain it but it provides a professionalism that we didn't have. This is absolute recognition by the Irish Government, Irish politicians and the Irish people of the soldiers who left our shores in 1914," he said.
An official at the OPW said landscaping work would begin in March or April and should be completed by the summer. When pressed for a starting date the official said the weather would be a determining factor, but work would certainly start by May 1st.
Although the landscaping will be carried out by the OPW and Northern Ireland Construction Services, future maintenance of the site will be conducted by locally employed staff on a contract basis.
The local authorities in Messines have been taking care of the memorial for the past year but the town clerk, Mr Patrick Florissoone, acknowledges that they have been unable to devote substantial resources to it.
"The park was just completed hours before the opening. Then everybody left after the opening and it has never been discussed from that day who will take care of it. The town felt that this was an Irish park and so it was an Irish responsibility," he said.
During the harsh winter that followed the opening ceremony, all the trees that had been planted to commemorate the fallen soldiers from Ireland's four provinces died. The Peace Park is now a bleak spectacle. Messines town council planted a few dozen tiny firs around the site in advance of last November's Armistice Day commemoration, but an OPW official says these will be replaced as part of the new landscaping.
Although the town council is clearly relieved that Irish authorities are taking charge of the memorial, Mr Glenn Barr, who conceived the project with Mr Harte, has reservations about the plan. He believes much of the criticism directed at the park is unfair and praises the work of young people from North and South who worked on the memorial.
He is unhappy about the fact that the new concept for the park does not envisage any role for young volunteers either as gardeners or tour guides.
"I'm concerned that some people are losing sight of the fact that this was not just some grandiose idea about a tower and a peace park. It was about bringing young people together. I'm not prepared to accept a situation where the young people would not be involved," he said.
Mr Barr has organised a group of young people to go to Messines next week to work on converting a building in the centre of the town into a new School of Peace and Reconciliation. The school, which will run seminars on conflict resolution, possibly involving people from eastern Europe and the Balkans as well as Ireland, is due to open in June.
Meanwhile, a small Irish community is forming in Messines and an Irish group has opened a pub there called the Tower Bar. Mr Florissoone welcomes these developments, both as a contribution to understanding between people and as a boost to the local economy.