Dublin: The US First Lady Michelle Obama has arrived in Dublin, with her two daughters, for a visit to Trinity College.
Malia and Sasha Obama will accompany the First Lady to the Gaiety Theatre later on Monday.
Earlier, Mrs Obama addressed the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, as part of the US president's visit.
Police say Dublin city centre will remain "open for business", but there will be traffic diversions.
Mrs Obama is visiting the Republic of Ireland, as her husband, the US President Barack Obama, holds talks with other world leaders at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland.
The Obama family are due to attend a special performance of Riverdance at the Gaiety Theatre and while at the college, they will view the Book of Kells, a ninth Century gospel manuscript.
The family is also expected to meet the staff and families of the US Embassy during their Dublin visit, before travelling on to the Wicklow Mountains National Park on Tuesday.
Some delays are expected over their two-day visit and commuters and exam students have been asked to leave extra time for their journeys.
Traffic and parking restrictions have been put in place around St Stephen's Green and will remain in place until Tuesday evening.
Kildare Street was closed to through traffic on Sunday evening and will not reopen until late on Tuesday.
Irish ancestry
In a statement, a police spokesman said: "We are particularly mindful of second and third level exams taking place in schools and colleges in Dublin city centre and we have liaised with local colleges and schools in the area. "Those students sitting exams should allow extra time for their journey, "the statement added.The visit is the second time Mrs Obama has come to the Republic of Ireland in her role as first lady.
In 2011, she accompanied the US president on engagements in Dublin and Moneygall, County Offaly, where they were met by large cheering crowds.
Mr Obama has Irish ancestry and can trace his maternal great, great, great grandfather to the tiny County Offaly village.
Falmouth Kearney, the son of a Moneygall, shoemaker, emigrated to the United States in 1850 at the age of 19, at the height of Ireland's Great Famine. |
