Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s meeting with Pope Francis is under way in the Vatican.
The requested meeting follows the invitation to the pope by the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference to visit Ireland for the World Meeting of Families in two years time.
Relations have improved since Mr Kenny’s scathing attack on the Vatican in July 2011 following the Cloyne report on clerical abuse of children.
Kenny’s condemnation of the Vatican’s alleged attitude to the legacy of abuse followed by the closure of the Irish embassy to the Holy See marked the lowest point in relations between the Irish State and the papacy.
However in April 2014, the Taoiseach briefly met Pope Francis during the canonisation of John Paul II and John XXIII, and invited him to Ireland.
Not long after, the Government reopened its embassy to the Vatican.
In October, Mr Kenny confirmed that the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference had extended an invitation to Pope Francis to travel to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families in August 2018.
It has been reported that the pope intends to make this visit to Ireland. Mr Kenny is expected to tell the pontiff that the State will extend every courtesy to facilitate his visit.
The issue of whether Pope Francis would visit Northern Ireland will also probably come up.
The two men are also expected to discuss the recent developments within the European Union, including the migration crisis, an issue which Pope Francis has often spoken strongly about.