Taoiseach invites William and Kate to Ireland

Kate-mania could be on its way to Ireland next year after Taoiseach Enda Kenny invited Prince William and his wife to visit.

Mr Kenny asked the royal couple to come to Ireland when he met them at an Olympics reception in London last week.

No dates have yet been pencilled in, according to the Taoiseach’s department, but the first half of next year is believed to be under consideration.

The marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in April last year proved a big hit with Irish television viewers.

The pair were also given an hereditary title in the North, the Baron and Baroness of Carrickfergus, as a wedding gift from Queen Elizabeth.

Mr Kenny hopes a visit by William and Kate will cement the Anglo-Irish goodwill unleashed by the highly successful tour of the Republic by Queen Elizabeth last year.

A formal invitation would have to be issued to Buckingham Palace from the Irish embassy in London to officially set in train a possible visit from the pair.

However, Mr Kenny is said to be pleased with the response his informal raising of the matter drew.

The popularity of Kate has seen her compared to the prince’s late mother, Princess Diana.

The couple have been inundated with invitations to visit countries across the globe after the world-wide interest in their Westminster Abbey wedding.