Today President Michael D Higgins will plant a tree in Berkeley in memory of the six Irish students who died there in June.

The six students who lost their lives in the tragic accident were Olivia Burke, Ashley Donohoe, Eoghan Culligan, Niccolai Schuster, Eimear Walsh and Lorcan Miller.

President Higgins and Mayor Tom Bates of Berkeley will plant the tree at the Martin Luther King Civic Centre in California.

Accompanied by Sabina Higgins, the President will then meet with the first responders, medical staff and volunteers who assisted after the Berkeley balcony collapse.

This is day seven of an eight-day visit by the President to the west coast of the US.