Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment Michael Ahern will represent the Government at tonight's state funeral in Auckland of New Zealand explorer Sir Edmund Hillary.
Hillary, who scaled Everest in 1953, visited Ireland in 2002 and opened a Tralee exhibition dedicated to fellow adventurer Tom Crean.
Hillary died aged 88 after suffering a heart attack in New Zealand on January 11th.
Mr Ahern departed on Saturday and will return at the weekend. Tonight's state funeral in the small St Mary's Church in Auckland will be televised live on New Zealand networks. Last week President Mary McAleese led Irish tributes to the explorer whom she described as a "true inspiration to others, an outstanding example of leadership and courage."
The successful Irish South Pole expedition team led by Pat Falvey also sent their condolences to the "icon of adventure." Mr Falvey and colleague Dr Clare O'Leary were part of the 2003 Irish Everest team that met Hillary in Katmandu, Nepal.
Mr Hillary often spoke of his admiration for the famous Irish adventurer Tom Crean and he opened an exhibition in his honour in the Kerry County Museum in 2002. The exhibition marked the centenary of Crean's journey to the South Pole with Ernest Shackleton's famous Discovery expedition.
Thousands of mourners today filed past Hillary's body as it lay in a closed coffin in Auckland's Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral. He is survived by his widow, Lady June Hillary and family. The mountaineer and adventurer gained international fame in 1953 when he and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first men to climb Nepal's Mount Everest, the world's tallest peak.
One of the 20th century's greatest adventurers, Hillary later made the first motorised overland trip to the South Pole, led a jet boat expedition from "sea to sky" up India's Ganges River and spent more than 40 years doing charity work for the Sherpa people of Nepal's Solu Khumbu mountain region.
About 100 members of New Zealand's Nepalese community placed white silk scarves over one end of the casket as a mark of respect. New Zealand Governor General Anand Satyanand laid a wreath on behalf of the Queen, whose June 2nd, 1953 coronation was held the day his conquest of Mt Everest was announced.
PA