The Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams is on route to the United States as efforts continue to restore Northern Ireland's power-sharing government.
The West Belfast MP will attend a series of fundraising events for his party and meeting with key Irish American figures and politicians in a bid to keep them up to speed on developments in the political process.
Mr Adams will be in the United States for a week and has arranged talks with US President George W Bush's special envoy on Northern Ireland issues, Ambassador Mitchell Reiss.
Among the cities he will visit will be Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington DC.
