The President, Mrs McAleese, will not announce her intentions on seeking a second seven-year term of office until after the June European and local elections. Renagh Holohan reports.
If she decides to stand for the Presidency again, as is expected, a late June announcement would allow her four months to establish her candidature in advance of the election in October or November.
As an outgoing President she is unlikely to mount a countrywide campaign similar to that which won her Áras an Úachtaráin in 1997 but will rely instead on her record in office.
Mrs McAleese, who leaves for a two-week tour of Argentina, Chile and Brazil on St Patrick's Day, is the subject of an RTE documentary to be broadcast next Tuesday night. From Ardoyne to the Aras, which will be presented by Sean O'Rourke, was made over six months starting last summer.
The President and Dr Martin McAleese, who will be accompanied by the Minister of State, Mr Michael Ahern, will leave Dublin next Wednesday evening and arrive in Buenos Aires the next morning.
She will call on President Kirchner, attend a reception for the Irish community and the following day, Friday, will speak at an Enterprise Ireland business breakfast. On Saturday she will visit the Santa Teresa Project at Obera and travel that night to Iguazu to view the famous falls and national park.
Following Mass in Iguazu on Sunday 21st the President and her party will fly to Santiago, Chile. On Monday she will lay a wreath at the Bernardo O'Higgins monument and visit Government House where she will be greeted by President and Mrs Lagos.
An honorary degree will be conferred upon her by the University of Chile, and she will hold meetings with the presidents of the Senate, Chamber of Deputies and Supreme Court. That night she will be guest of honour at a state dinner.
On Tuesday 23rd after a business breakfast Mrs McAleese will receive the keys of the city from the mayor of Santiago and visit Valparaiso in the afternoon.
She will travel from Santiago to Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Wednesday 24th and the following day, after a business breakfast, she will meet the governor.