President Mary McAleese will depart later today for a three-day state visit to Greece.
It is the first state visit to the country by an Irish president.
During the visit Mrs McAleese will visit Athens, where she will meet President Stephanopoulos, Prime Minister Simitis and the President of the Hellenic Parliament.
Mrs McAleese will address the Hellenic Centre for European Studies, and will speak to Greek and Irish business leaders at a breakfast hosted by Enterprise Ireland and Bord Bia.
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The President will be accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Brian Cowen, and senior officials from the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Foreign Affairs.