THE SPEAKER OF the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi will address the Dáil next Wednesday. 

While it will not be a formal sitting of the House, Pelosi will address an audience of Dáil and Seanad members, as well as some former parliamentarians.

The American politician is travelling to Ireland as part of a US congressional delegation, which includes Congressman Richard Neal. 

It is understood the visit is part of a fresh push to get the E3 Visa Bill over the line in the US. 

Neal was a supporter of the E3 visa Bill that would have introduced a new batch of US visas Irish people. 

A Bill, which was brought forward in the US earlier this year, sought to allow Irish citizens avail of surplus E-3 visas that are specifically for Australians.

It was thought that if passed it could mean up to 5,000 US visas a year could be specifically set aside for Irish citizens.

The Bill was passed in the US House of Representatives, without the need for a vote, early in December but then hit a serious roadblock in the Senate. 

It needed unanimous support in the 100-seat Senate because it was being fast-tracked but a “hold” was put on the Bill by a single US senator, Senator Tom Cotton.

US President Donald Trump personally spoke to Cotton about his opposition to the bill. 

The Taoiseach and TD John Deasy, who was appointed a government envoy to US Congress to work with the undocumented Irish living in the US, were informed by Neal during the St Patrick’s Day Washington DC visit that he will be reintroducing the Bill in a bid to get it over the line. 

It is understood that Pelosi and the US delegation will meet with the Taoiseach, and a trip to the Northern Ireland border may also be in the schedule.