Kosovo's parliament has voted in favour of declaring independence from Serbia.
The assembly voted to adopt a declaration of independence read by Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, declaring Kosovo 'an independent and sovereign state'.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has said he will be recommending to the Cabinet that Ireland should recognise Kosovo as an independent State.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio's This Week programme, Mr Ahern said it was inevitable that Kosovo would seek its independence.
The UN Security Council ended an emergency meeting on Kosovo's declaration, with Britain's envoy saying no member backed Russia's call to declare the move 'null and void.'
Russia says a unilateral independence declaration by Kosovo is illegal and the council should oppose it and demand more talks between the ethnic Albanians and Belgrade.
US President George W Bush said earlier Washington would work with its allies to make sure there was no violence in Kosovo.
He said the US position was that Kosovo's status had to be resolved for the Balkan region to be stable and he was heartened by the Kosovo government's proclaimed willingness to support Serbian rights.
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica slammed Mr Bush for backing the declaration of independence
The declaration of independence will bring to an end almost nine years of uncertainty, during which Kosovo has existed as a territory under UN administration.
While the US and most EU states support independence from Serbia, and will move formally to recognise the new state in the coming days, the declaration is being strongly resisted by Serbia and Russia.
Up to a dozen Serbian government members will travel to Kosovo today to visit the Serbian enclave including Ratinitzia in the Irish battalion area of operations.
The Serbian government has formally declared Kosovan independence null and void and says it has prepared a series of non-military responses to continue to assert its continued sovereignty over what it is for the moment formally a part of Serbia.
KFOR troops are on high alert.
NATO says it will continue to ‘fulfill its responsibility’ in Kosovo unless the UN Security Council decides otherwise.
While a massive independence day party is planned for Pristina this evening, below the surface tensions are running high, particularly in the northern town of Mitrivitza, home to the biggest concentration of Serbs.
The flag of independent Kosovo was also unveiled in parliament, depicting a yellow outline of the nation on a dark blue field, accompanied by six stars.
