Pope Francis to visit Ireland in 2018

Pope Francis has confirmed he will be visiting Ireland in 2018.

It had been expected he'd make the trip as part of the Catholic World Meeting of Families in August of that month – he confirmed his intentions during a private audience with the Taoiseach this morning.

There's no word yet as to whether he'll be travelling outside Dublin during the visit.

Political Correspondent with the Irish Examiner Juno McEnroe is at the Vatican – he says a lot of the detail has yet to be hammered out.