US President Donald Trump is expected to meet President Catherine Connolly at Áras an Uachtaráin during his planned visit to Ireland next weekend.
Mr Trump is due to arrive in Dublin early on Saturday, 12 September, before travelling by Marine One to the Phoenix Park, where he is expected to hold meetings with President Connolly and Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
The meeting with President Connolly had not initially been included in plans for the visit, with an earlier draft itinerary understood to have contained no engagement at Áras an Uachtaráin.
A spokesperson for the President had previously indicated that Ms Connolly would consider any request for a meeting.
The President had said during last year's election campaign that she would meet Mr Trump if the opportunity arose. However, she has also been critical of aspects of his administration, including in her St Patrick's Day message, when she said that “the normalisation of war can never be accepted”.
Mr Trump also mistakenly referred to President Connolly as a man during a meeting with Mr Martin in the Oval Office on St Patrick's Day.
The forthcoming engagement is expected to be a short courtesy meeting rather than a full bilateral visit. It is therefore unlikely to resemble the visits made by former US presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden to President Michael D Higgins during their respective trips to Ireland.
Detailed preparations for Mr Trump's visit have been taking place for several months, although Government sources have cautioned that the schedule could still change before his arrival.
The Dublin portion of the trip is expected to be heavily concentrated around the Phoenix Park, with security considerations limiting the President's movements around the capital.
A proposed visit to the site of the new US embassy in Ballsbridge, where Mr Trump could have taken part in a sod-turning ceremony, is now unlikely to proceed because of logistical and security concerns.
The President is expected to be welcomed at Dublin Airport by Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris.
There is also a possibility that Mr Trump will meet US Ambassador to Ireland Ed Walsh at the ambassador's residence in the Phoenix Park.
Following his meetings in Dublin, Mr Trump is expected to travel to his golf resort in Doonbeg, Co Clare, on Saturday afternoon, where he will attend events connected with the Irish Open tournament.
A senior Government representative could also attend the tournament and related events in a private capacity.
Protests against the US President's visit are planned in both Dublin and Clare.
The visit is expected to follow a tightly controlled format similar to Mr Trump's second state visit to Britain last year, when much of his time was spent within the secure grounds of Windsor Castle.
Mr Trump is expected to leave Ireland on Sunday evening, 13 September, or in the early hours of Monday.
