Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan will today begin his five-day visit to the United States.
The trip will start with a visit to the New York Irish Centre and the Irish Hunger Memorial.
Minister Flanagan will address the UN General Assembly and will also meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York.
He is also scheduled to visit Washington - where he will hold meetings, with a focus on the situation in Northern Ireland, with several members of US Congress and Senator Patrick Leahy.
In his address to the General Assembly, Mr Flanagan says he will "underline that ongoing conflicts and new types of threats are creating humanitarian crises and situations of instability, poverty and mass displacement around the world. I will emphasise that in these difficult times, the need for stronger leadership from the United Nations has never been more critical.
“I will also welcome commitments which will be made by countries that are new to or re-engaging in UN peacekeeping. These will complement the activities of longstanding peacekeeping contributors like Ireland which has a distinguished record of service in this area. We will continue to play our part in this regard," he adds.
