The affair, dubbed "A Shamrock Shindig," will include a lunch buffet, traditional Irish music and dancing, an Irish folk singer, guest speakers, visual presentations, prizes and more.

Mr. Cahill has been a leading figure in the Irish Republican movement since the earliest days of the "troubles." Born in Belfast in 1920, he witnessed some of the bloodiest anti-Catholic pogroms in his youth. At age 18, he joined the Irish Republican Army.

On April 5, 1942, along with five other volunteers, he was arrested on an operation against the Royal Ulster Constabulary, in which one member of the RUC was killed. All were charged and sentenced to death. In August of that year, the sentence of five of the men was commuted to life imprisonment. The sixth man, Tom Williams, was executed on Sept. 2, 1942.

In the late 1960s, Mr. Cahill remained active in the Republican movement and became active in the growing civil rights movement in Northern Ireland. During this period, he traveled extensively to America and assisted in the founding of Northern Aid. Throughout the 1970s, he was an IRA commander in Belfast. In March 1973, Mr. Cahill was arrested off the Waterford coast on the Claudia attempting to bring weapons into Ireland

Mr. Cahill is extremely active in the current peace process, and has been a leading figure in the negotiations for a settlement of the Northern Ireland conflict.