KOFI ANNAN VISIT: The United Nations Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, is due to arrive in Dublin this evening at the start of a four-day official visit to Ireland.
He will be greeted at the Government's guest house, Farmleigh House in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, where his delegation will be staying, by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Ahern.
Tomorrow Mr Annan will address the National Forum on Europe at Dublin Castle, on the subject of EU-UN co-operation. He is expected to welcome EU plans to establish rapidly deployable military units or battle groups which could be made available to the UN to help deal with crisis situations around the world.
In the afternoon, Mr and Mrs Annan will make a courtesy visit to the President, Mrs McAleese.
On Friday, the Secretary General will review a ceremonial guard at McKee Barracks in Dublin, meeting Irish UN peacekeepers and inspecting military equipment used by Irish troops on UN duty. Later that evening, he will have a formal meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs at Iveagh House.
Mr Annan will not now take part in a panel discussion on development issues at Trinity College Dublin on Friday as originally intended. According to a Government spokesman, it was Mr Annan's normal practice to give only one keynote address per visit and this would be at the Forum on Europe.
On Saturday, Mr Annan will have a working lunch with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, at Farmleigh. On Monday, he will give the Tip O'Neill lecture at the University of Ulster campus in Derry, in memory of the late speaker of the US House of Representatives, who was an active supporter of peace efforts in Northern Ireland. Mr Annan will also meet his fellow Nobel peace laureate, Mr John Hume.