President Michael D Higgins will meet emergency crews and medical staff who helped the victims of the Berkeley balcony collapse in California this summer during his upcoming visit to America (Seán McCárthaigh writes).
First responders, doctors, nurses and volunteers who assisted the Irish students killed and injured will attend a reception hosted by the president on October 28.
Five Irish students working in the US and one Irish-American student died after a fourth-floor balcony collapsed at the Library Gardens apartment block on Kittredge Street where they were attending a party on June 16. Seven other people were seriously injured in the incident.
The president will express his gratitude on behalf of the Irish nation to the ambulance and fire crews who attended the scene and the hospital staff who cared for the victims.
After the reception, the president and Tom Bates, the mayor of Berkeley, will plant a tree at the Martin Luther King Civic Centre in memory of those who died in the tragedy.
Advertisement
The president will arrive in Seattle on Wednesday for an eight-day visit to the west coast of the US.
While the main focus of the trip will be meetings with civic leaders in Seattle and San Francisco, the president will also visit the headquarters of Microsoft and Google, two large multinationals that have their European headquarters in Dublin.
Mr Higgins will also meet some of the 150 Irish staff working with Microsoft in Seattle and over 100 staff employed by Google at its San Jose base.
During his visit, the president, who will be accompanied by his wife, Sabine, will speak about the role of technology in sustainable development and reducing global hunger.