Alex Salmond will travel to Belfast today to fulfil an engagement which few people would have thought possible even six months ago.

For a start, it will be Mr Salmond's first overseas engagement as the First Minister. Not only that, he will be having talks with the Rev Dr Ian Paisley, the hardline loyalist who holds the same title in Northern Ireland.

Further adding to the improbability of the occasion is the fact that Martin McGuinness, the ex-IRA commander, will also be in attendance as Dr Paisley's deputy.

Top of the agenda will be Mr Salmond's ongoing attempts to improve the channels of communication between Westminster and the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In particular, he wants to see the meaningful re-establishment of the Joint Ministerial Committees (JMCs), which were set up as a way of allowing ministers from Westminster to discuss matters of common interests with colleagues in the devolved administrations but have barely sat since 2002.

Dr Paisley and Mr McGuinness have already privately expressed their support for improved communication between the administrations, as has Rhodri Morgan, the First Minister in Wales.

A spokesman for Mr Salmond said: "It's good that the First Minister's first visit is to Northern Ireland. There are a lot of issues where we've got a shared interest, in particular removing the formal mechanisms governing relations across the administrations."

The trip will also see Mr Salmond address members of the Northern Ireland Assembly when he is expected to highlight the close links between the two countries.

"There are many links, not least family connections between the two, and we think things are very optimistic now that the Assembly is up and running again in Northern Ireland," said the spokesman.

"Scotland is a good friend of Northern Ireland. We're very willing and very keen on building a relationship because there are a lot of issues which we have in common."

Despite their obvious political differences, one shared goal of both Dr Paisley and Mr McGuinness is a desire to see corporation tax in Northern Ireland brought into line with their southern neighbours.

The executive wants to see the tax lowered in Scotland, arguing that it is an essential tool for improving economic growth in smaller nations.

Although responsibility for taxation rests with Westminster, Mr Salmond's spokesman said he was supportive of the Northern Ireland's government's campaign.

He said: "Lower corporation tax for Northern Ireland is an issue for Northern Ireland to take forward, but there's a sympathy for that case and it's something we would aspire to for Scotland."

A visit to the Republic of Ireland by Mr Salmond has also been pencilled in for later in the year, as has a trip to Wales to meet Mr Morgan.

Overseas engagements will also follow as the First Minister seeks to carry on the work of predecessors Henry McLeish and Jack McConnell in trying to boost Scotland's profile around the world.

"There's a great benefit to Scotland, as former first m inisters have recognised, in building up all the relationships that are available to the country," said Mr Salmond's spokesman.

"It's about building links which can be to the benefit of Scotland and the places that we're working with."