The first British royal to visit Croke Park stadium next weekend will be welcome despite hardline republican protests, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern insisted today.
The Princess Royal is expected to watch the Ireland v Scotland rugby international from the VIP enclosure in the Hogan Stand.
The stand was named after gaelic footballer Michael Hogan, who was among the 14 murdered by British troops on Bloody Sunday in 1920.
Mr Ahern said Princess Anne, who is patron of the Scottish Rugby Union and regularly attends their matches, will be made to feel welcome.
Republican Sinn Féin - linked to the Continuity IRA - said it will stage a protest at next Saturday's game. About 80 of the party's members protested outside the stadium during the English rugby team's visit last February. Ireland won the match by 43 points to 13.
Gardaí arrested three people for minor public order offencesnear the stadium over the course of the day. A small number of arrests, in connection with the protest, were later reported on O'Connell Street.
The visit by Princess Anne will be seen as another step towards a first official trip to the Republic by Queen Elizabeth, which Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said is inevitable.
But Mr Ahern played down the significance of the occasion. "There has been a number of visits by members of the British royal family to Ireland. This is just one other visit," he said.