The President, Mrs McAleese, will be on a state visit to Australia when President Clinton comes to Ireland at the end of next week.
Mrs McAleese leaves Dublin today on a 15-day trip to Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. Her visit to Australia will be her first state visit abroad since taking office - the other parts of the trip, while not termed state visits, involve full schedules of official engagements.
The President's spokeswoman said yesterday the state visit to Australia was organised long before Mr Clinton's visit was announced and the arrangements could not now be altered.
Indeed in June, she said, Mr Clinton had told Mrs McAleese that while his wife, Hillary, would visit Ireland in September, he himself would not.
The President will be accompanied by her husband, Dr Martin McAleese, the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, and a number of officials.
Mrs McAleese will arrive in Australia on Monday as that country prepares for what is believed to be an imminent general election campaign. Some observers believed the Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, will announce an election date this weekend.
She will spend tomorrow and Sunday in Singapore, and meet the president of Singapore and host a reception for members of the Irish community living there.
Her nine-day state visit to Australia begins in Perth on Monday, and takes in events in Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania, Canberra and Brisbane. She will meet Australian political leaders, host receptions for Irish citizens in several cities and be conferred with an honorary degree at the Victoria University of Technology in Melbourne.
In the Australian capital, Canberra, on September 7th she will meet the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition, Mr Kim Beazley. Both men are almost certain to be in the throes of a general election campaign by then - Mr Beazley announced a pre-election tax policy yesterday.
During her visit, the President will also meet the premiers of Western Australia, New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria. She will have a breakfast in Sydney with prominent Australian women hosted by Ms Judi Moylan, Australia's Minister for the Status of Women.
On September 10th she will arrive in the New Zealand capital, Auckland, for two days of events. Mrs McAleese is due home on September 12th.