TWO members of the British royal family are to visit the Republic next week. Both Princess Anne and Prince Edward will be in the State on separate visits, each of which will last two days.
The prince will arrive on Thursday. He has been invited by Gaisce, the organisation which arranges projects for young people between 15 and 25 years. These projects centre on community involvement, personal skill and physical recreation.
The prince will be here in his capacity as chairman of the International Council of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award International Association, and he will attend the presentation of gold awards by the President, Mrs Robinson at Dublin Castle on Thursday.
The occasion marks the 10th anniversary of the Gaisce awards.
On Friday, he will travel to Castlebar, Co Mayo, to meet people taking part in the award projects and afterwards he will attend a reception at Ashford Castle.
Princess Anne will arrive in Dublin on Friday. She is expected to perform the formal opening of the new British embassy building ion Merrion Road Dublin.
On Saturday, and in her role as patron of the Scottish Rugby Union, she will attend the Ireland Scotland rugby match at Lansdowne Road. It is not yet known whether her son, Peter, who has played rugby for Scotland at schoolboy level this season, will also be at the match.
Both visits follow a number of private trips to the Republic by both the prince and princess in recent years. It also follows the highly successful, two day visit by the Prince of Wales last summer.
Last week, it was confirmed that the President, Mrs Robinson, will pay her first official visit to Britain in June. The announcement has encouraged speculation that Queen Elizabeth may soon make her first visit to the Republic.
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