The Taoiseach will work to secure a continued high level of US interest in Northern Ireland during his two-day St Patrick's Day visit to Washington which begins this morning.
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Dr John Reid, the main Northern Ireland party leaders and a number of Executive members are also in Washington for political and social engagements. Their presence reflects a higher level of interest than had initially been expected in the peace process from the Bush Administration.
Tomorrow Mr Ahern will hold his first meeting with President Bush, in the Oval Office in the White House. The scheduled 30 minutes of talks will be followed by the traditional shamrock ceremony in the Roosevelt Room at which Mr Ahern will present Mr Bush with a bowl of shamrock. The ceremony is taking place tomorrow as St Patrick's Day falls this year on a Saturday, a non-working day.
Mr David Trimble, Mr John Hume, Mr Seamus Mallon and Mr Gerry Adams are expected to join the Taoiseach and President Bush as guests at the annual Speaker's lunch on Capitol Hill today. This afternoon Mr Ahern will meet Senator Edward Kennedy. Tonight he will be among several hundred guests at the annual American Ireland Fund gala dinner.
Tomorrow morning Mr Ahern will have breakfast with members of the Ireland America Economic Advisory Board, a group of business people with links to and interest in Ireland.
Following his meeting with President Bush and the shamrock ceremony, he will attend a reception in the East Wing of the White House to which 200 guests have been invited.
President Bush said last night he would nominate Mr Richard Egan to be the US ambassador to Ireland. The nomination must now be approved by the Senate.