President Mary McAleese will today travel to Belgium to mark the 90th anniversary of a major First World War battle.
The Battle of Wijtschate-Messines Ridge, which took place on June 7th, 1917, involved soldiers with the 16th Irish and 36th Ulster Divisions who were killed taking the German occupied Flemish town of Wijtschate.
Around 449,000 allied soldiers and more than 271,710 Germans were killed on that day. Mrs McAleese unveiled a Peace Tower at Messines in November 1998 alongside Queen Elizabeth II.