Taoiseach Enda Kenny is expected to soon announce his list of 11 nominees for membership of Seanad Éireann, according to government sources.
It is understood that numerous many requests and appeals for nominations have been sent to the taoiseach, but he will not announce his decisions until next week.
There is speculation that Kenny may nominate two politicians from Northern Ireland, one from the SDLP, the other from a liberal unionist background.
There was no comment from the Taoiseach's office before he left for New York on a suggestion by Fianna Fáil's Senator Darragh O'Brien that Mr. Kenny should nominate a representative of the Irish diaspora to the Seanad.
Kenny himself proposed such an idea a few years ago though he suggested at the time not one, but three senators representing the global Irish community.
