DUBLIN - Pope Benedict's decision to appoint Archbishop Sean Brady a Cardinal is a sign the pontiff is interested in visiting Northern Ireland, the Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said on Thursday.

The Pope on Wednesday named 23 new Roman Catholic cardinals, including Sean Brady, who is Archbishop of Armagh in Northern Ireland and Primate of All Ireland.

"I see his appointment also as a sign of the interest of Pope Benedict to come to Northern Ireland, if not in the immediate future," Martin said in the text of a speech given at New York University.

Benedict's predecessor John Paul visited the Republic of Ireland in 1979, but did not go to Northern Ireland due to the level of sectarian tensions at the time.

In May Catholic and Protestant politicians, arch foes for decades, entered into a power-sharing government in Northern Ireland ushering in political stability in a province marred by years of violence.

Martin said such a visit by the Pope would have "the symbolic meaning of ending an era of our history and opening to something new, North and South".

Irish media have reported in the past that a papal visit to Northern Ireland might be in tandem with Britain's Queen Elizabeth, playing to both predominantly Catholic nationalists seeking a united Ireland and pro-British Protestants.

Brady said on Wednesday this was the first time in history that Ireland will have three Cardinals.