IRELAND: President Bush will almost certainly visit Ireland for a summit with EU leaders in May or June, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said yesterday.
"We expect that we will have an EU-US summit here," Mr Ahern told the Reuters news agency in an interview.
"As of now it is definitely intended to go ahead. There is not a date or a location, which really depends on when it is."
A Bush visit to Ireland had been widely expected during the Irish presidency of the European Union, which ends in June.
Mr Ahern said it was "likely to be in late May or June" and hinted it might not be in the Irish capital.
"We have so many meetings in Dublin in May and June," he said.
Security is likely to be a key determining factor in deciding where any visit would take place.
There will almost certainly be anti-Bush demonstrations and, unlike the situation during visits by President Bill Clinton, which were largely uncontentious, gardaí will be anxious to keep the president far away from any hostile crowds.
That would suggest a non-urban location, one which could be sealed off, with guests entering by helicopter.
Relations between the Americans and the EU were soured last year by the Iraq war, bitterly opposed by German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and French President Jacques Chirac.
But Mr Ahern said there had been a thaw in transatlantic relations.
"Schröder is going to America shortly. There is talk that President Bush will go to France," he said.
"There is a lot of action going on and we are working hard to make it positive at all levels."
President Bush has visited Northern Ireland, but not the Republic.