Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he hopes Pope Francis will visit Northern Ireland if he agrees to make a formal trip to the Republic.
Mr Kenny made the personal invitation to the Pope to visit Ireland after he met the pontiff yesterday following a landmark double canonisation in Rome.
The Fine Gael leader said that while the catholic church in Ireland would have to send out the official invitation, his office would help to work towards a successful visit. He also said he hoped the Pope would travel to the north. Half a million pilgrims
flocked to St Peter's square to hear Pope Francis proclaim late pontiffs John XXiii and John Paul ii saints yesterday morning.
Pope emeritus, Benedict XVi, was also present at the canonisation and helped Pope Francis celebrate Mass. Earlier this month, councillors in Belfast voted in favour of inviting Pope Francis to the city. SDLP councillor Pat Mccarthy proposed that the Pontiff should be invited to come north of the border if he visits the Republic. Earlier this year, the Republic's senate voted unanimously to invite Pope Francis for an official visit. A pontiff has not visited Ireland in 35 years.
The last pope to make a visit was Pope John Paul ii in september 1979. However, he did not travel to the north amid security concerns. A month before the Pope's visit, Queen Elizabeth's cousin Lord Mountbatten was killed in an IRA bomb blast off the coast of sligo. On the same day, 18 British soldiers were killed in two booby-trap bombs beside Narrow Water castle, near Warrenpoint in co Down.