Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to visit Ireland today

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is due to arrive in Ireland later today.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will visit Áras an Uachtarán and Farmleigh today.

The stopover comes as he makes his way to the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York.

He is set to give a speech that is feared could trigger an upsurge in violence in the occupied West Bank as well as the Gaza Strip.

President Abbas will visit President Michael D Higgins at the Áras, before holding a formal meeting and working dinner with Tánaiste Simon Coveney at Farmleigh.