The Football Association of Ireland has announced that Northern Ireland will take on Republic of Ireland in a friendly at the Aviva Stadium later this year.
November's friendly in Dublin will mark the first time that the two nations have faced off since May 2011 and is the first meeting between managers Michael O'Neill and Martin O'Neill.
Neither side had a fixture planned for November 15 and a decision has been made for the rivalry to be resumed, which Michael O'Neill claims was a logical choice to make ahead of the final round of UEFA Nations League matches.
"UEFA have made it mandatory that we play a friendly on that date and when we looked at the options across Europe, travelling to Dublin to play the Republic of Ireland made a lot of sense," he is quoted as saying by the Belfast Telegraph.
"It means that we can stay on the island for the week, train in our usual environment and play a game that will be a good test for us ahead of the Austria match. Both countries qualified for Euro 2016 and both narrowly missed out on qualification for Russia, so it will be an evenly matched and hard-fought contest.
"From a personal point of view I am looking forward to managing a team against Martin, a manager who I hugely respect and admire. Qualification for UEFA EURO 2020 is our number one priority now and with the UEFA Nations League a potential route to the tournament this game means that we will be as prepared as possible for the Austria match."
While Northern Ireland host Austria at Windsor Park on November 18, Republic of Ireland travel to Denmark a day later.
Daniel Lewis
