Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O'Neill and Alliance leader Naomi Long are to help launch an Irish government-backed initiative for DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson's peace company.
Ms O'Neill and Mrs Long are among the line-up of guest speakers for the launch at Stormont of a fellowship programme by the Centre for Democracy and Peace Building.
The company, for which Sir Jeffrey is an unremunerated director, has since 2015 received almost €87,000 (£75,000) from the Irish government - a key supporter of the programme.
Read more: Watch: Arlene Foster learns Irish-language roots of Fermanagh childhood home in TV show
Now in its second year, the fellowship scheme aims to "strengthen democratic institutions" by ensuring Northern Ireland's current and future political and civic leaders in are "best-placed to lead into the next decade".
A total of 26 mid-career political and civic leaders will be unveiled as participants or "fellows" in the six-month leadership programme, which will be launched on Tuesday at Parliament Buildings.
The scheme is supported by the Irish government's Department of Foreign Affairs, leading academic institutions and several businesses.
Jayne Brady, head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, is also among the scheduled speakers for the launch event.
Stormont has been in limbo since February after the DUP withdrew its First Minister from the power-sharing government in protest over Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol.
Attempts to restore the Assembly and Executive since May's election have failed as the DUP has blocked attempts to elect a Speaker, meaning no further business can be discussed.
The Centre for Democracy and Peace Building aims to "uphold and share the values and principles of democracy in order to build peace, stability and reconciliation", according to its website.
Among those involved in the organisation are its honorary chairman emeritus former Alliance Party leader Lord John Alderdice, and former SDLP leader Baroness Margaret Ritchie, who acts as an unremunerated director.
Between 2015 and 2021 the company received €86,700 from the Irish government's Reconciliation Fund, according to the Department for Foreign Affairs' website.
The Reconciliation Fund annually awards grants to organisations "working to build better relations within and between traditions in Northern Ireland, between north and south, and between Ireland and Britain".
It has been running in some form since 1982 and currently has an annual budget of €3.7million.
Last year a DUP MP criticised the Irish government for supporting through the fund a charity's research into how language used by the media in Northern Ireland affects politics.
The planned study, which formed part of a research project on attitudes towards a united Ireland, aimed to explore the "positive/negative contribution" media outlets have on public debate around the issue.
It was among several research papers commissioned by the Future Relationship Conversations project, led by Derry-based organisation the Holywell Trust.
Gregory Campbell at the time branded the Irish government's funding of the project as "politically toxic".
The DUP MP said it "smacks of an attempt to influence language and drive forward reporting which is sympathetic to nationalism".
But those involved in the project said the Irish government had "no role whatsoever in deciding the research topics".
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