This man could rejuvenate Ireland (and it’s not the one on the right)

The future leader of the world’s most populous nation is due to get the royal treatment when he arrives on a three-day visit to Ireland today.

Our traditional 100,000 welcomes will hardly be enough to greet the man destined to lead 1.4bn people, but a Riverdance performance, a Gaelic games spectacle, a banquet at Bunratty and dinner at Dublin Castle are among the treats in store for Chinese vice-president Xi Jinping.

The man set to become president of China and chairman of the Communist Party arrives in Shannon this afternoon from the US where he has spent the past week.