The US State Department is expected to announce next week that the role of "point person" on Northern Ireland in the Bush administration will be taken over by Mr Mitchell B. Reiss, following the departure of Mr Richard Haass as special envoy.
Mr Reiss, an expert on North Korea, succeeded Mr Haass as Director of Policy Planning at the State Department last June and will add Northern Ireland to his remit from January.
Mr Reiss was Dean of International Affairs and director of the Centre for International Studies at the College of William and Mary in Virginia.
Mr Haass was appointed "special envoy of the President and the Secretary of State" after he left the administration to take up the post of president of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
Miss Ireland arrives home today
The newly crowned Miss World, Ms Rosanna Davison, arrives home to Dublin today .
The first-year Arts student at UCD is due to land in Dublin Airport around midday where a reception in the VIP area of the Aer Rianta lounge will be held for her.
This afternoon the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Mr Royston Brady, hosts a civic reception for her in the Mansion House.
Ms Davison, daughter of singer-songwriter Chris de Burgh and Diane Davison, received the Miss World crown in China last weekend.
Miss Davidson said speculation that the competition was a fix was "an insult to the integrity of the judges".
The President, Ms McAleese, said she is looking forward to congratulating Miss Davison on her achievement.
UK to ban SSRIs to children
The UK government is set to ban the prescription of all anti-depressant drugs (SSRIs) to children, except Prozac, because of evidence that some of the drugs may make some under-18s suicidal.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in the UK said yesterday most SSRIs were not suitable for under 18s.
The Irish Medicines Board (IMB) said yesterday only two drugs are prescribed in the Republic to under-18s for the treatment of depressive illnesses, Lustral and Faverin, and that there are no plans to ban them.
The IMB said, however, it would "continue to monitor the quality, safety and efficacy of SSRIs and initiate any further regulatory action deemed necessary".
Dr Joan Gilvarry, director of human medicines with the IMB said: "We strongly recommend that patients taking SSRIs do not suddenly discontinue use of the drug because of the risk of withdrawal effects."
Developing countries aid review
A Dáil sub-committee yesterday adopted recommendations from Comhlamh, the organisation for returned volunteers, that a review be undertaken into how aid is sent to developing countries.
Comhlamh told the Sub-Committee on Development Co-operation of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs yesterday that the EU also needed to carry out a comprehensive review of the impact of CAP reforms on agriculture and food processing industries in developing countries.