The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, is to meet US Vice- President Dick Cheney in the White House this morning for discussions likely to focus on EU relations with the United States, and on the Middle East and Iraq, writes Conor O'Clery in Washington.
The meeting is significant for the US side as Ireland will have the EU presidency for the first six months of next year and will be involved in taking the lead on these issues.
Transatlantic relations have been bedevilled by the Iraq crisis and sharp differences over genetically modified foods and the International Criminal Court (ICC). The US wants the EU to lift its ban on GM foods and has refused to subject its citizens to the jurisdiction of the ICC.
In the first high-level meeting between the Irish and US governments since the end of the Iraq war, the Irish side will be anxious to assess Mr Cheney's views on whether the US will look for greater help from the United Nations in administering Iraq.
The Dublin view is that the UN has vast experience at nation-building and that the US would benefit from a greater UN share in decision-making in Iraq, something the Bush administration has resisted despite the post-war chaos and growing guerrilla insurgency.
Pressure is building on the US government to seek more international involvement,
Mr Cowen yesterday briefed Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy and Mr Christopher Dodd on the Northern Ireland peace process. Afterwards both expressed strong support for the Irish position on the need for elections in Northern Ireland in the autumn.