#JFKennedy50th- The Eternal Flame taken from the grave of former US President John F. Kennedy in Washington has arrived to Dublin Airport this morning and is to be transferred to the Naval Service in Dublin Port and carried by sea to New Ross, writes Jehan Ashmore.

This is the first time that the flame has been given permission to be taken from the Kennedy grave at Arlington National Cemetery, since the assassination of President Kennedy in June 1963.

A ceremony will be held later today when the flame is passed over from the Defence Forces to the Naval Service CPV coastal patrol vessel L.E. Orla (P41) which is berthed along Sir John Rogerson's Quay.

L.E. Orla is scheduled to depart Dublin Port mid-afternoon with the flame on board the CPV and taken to New Ross where the Wexford town is marking his 50th anniversary visit.

On Saturday, John F. Kennedy's daughters Caroline Kennedy and Jean Kennedy Smith will be guests of honour along the Quayside in New Ross accompanied by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny and where they are to use the Eternal Flame to light the Emigrant Memorial beside the replica Dunbrody famine tallship.

The flame will also be brought to the Kennedy Monument in his ancestral homeland as a final act to mark the half-century anniversary.