Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness has been invited to attend an event with the Queen during her Northern Ireland visit next week.
The invitation by a major cross-border charity comes after speculation the senior republican may hold an historic first meeting with the Queen.
Sinn Fein previously said it had yet to be presented with a "doable proposition" over such an encounter.
Sinn Fein's leadership will meet in Dublin this morning to make a decision on the invitation
Now Co-operation Ireland has announced it is to host an event for the Queen and the President of Ireland next Wednesday to celebrate the arts and culture across the island.
It said: "We are inviting the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to join us."
Sinn Fein's leadership will meet in Dublin this morning to make a decision on the invitation.
A venue for the event has yet to be confirmed.
It had been believed that plans for a 20,000-strong celebration of the Queen's reign, to be held at Stormont during the Queen's two day visit, made it more difficult for republicans to hold a meeting there.
But an engagement involving not only the Queen, but also Ireland's head of state, could provide a more acceptable backdrop for Sinn Fein.
Co-operation Ireland works to build bridges between divided communities on the island.
It said: "Co-operation Ireland is organising an event in Belfast next Wednesday, June 27, bringing together the joint patrons and a small number of guests to recognise and celebrate the transformational strength of the arts and culture across the community in Northern Ireland and throughout Ireland."
Sinn Fein deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald, a TD in the Irish Republic, said any potential handshake would not be considered part of Jubilee celebrations.
"I'm very conscious that this is a big ask of republicans," she said.
Mrs McDonald said she was expecting a reasoned debate at the ard chomhairle meeting in Dublin and added that Mr McGuinness was conscious of the views of a million unionists in Northern Ireland and their affinity with the monarch.
"Members will be conscious of a number of things, on the one hand the huge significance of Martin McGuinness meeting an English monarch, aware of the context that the country is still partitioned and that many Sinn Fein people and those in the broader republican family have had bad experiences and suffered grievously at the hands of British rule," she told RTE Radio.