US Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance warmly welcomed Taoiseach Micheál Martin and his wife Mary to the Vice Presidential residence in Washington DC.
On the steps of the Naval Observatory as Irish music played in the background, the Taoiseach and vice president, both wearing matching deep green ties, had a short conversation before Mr Vance ushered Mr Martin inside for a breakfast meeting.
It is the first in a long series of engagements for the Taoiseach today.
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Mr Vance said the breakfast was to remind people of the strength of the relationship between Ireland and the US.
He said that during a visit to Ireland, he noted its “beautiful” landscapes and “interesting technological growth”.
“One of the things we try to do with this breakfast is just remind people of the important bonds of friendship between the United States and Ireland,” he said.
Sporting a pair of shamrock socks which he showed to the room, Mr Vance added: “The president is a very big fan of conservative dress, and so if he notices these socks, you have to defend this as an important part of cementing the Irish-American relationship.”
Mr Martin thanked Mr Vance for his “warm welcome and hospitality” and joked that he would need to “adjust very rapidly” his “conservative” dress sense after seeing Mr Vance’s socks.
“The United States has been a steadfast friend of Ireland for centuries. Indeed, the United States was the first country to recognise our long, soft independence,” Mr Martin said. “Together, we have built deep and enduring political, cultural and economic bonds, greatly enriching our two nations in the process.”
Among those at the meeting are US health secretary Robert F Kennedy and Ireland’s ambassador to the US Geraldine Byrne Nason.
Micheál Martin said Ireland and the US enjoy deep and enduring bonds
The Taoiseach made reference to the Mr Vance’s Scots-Irish heritage by saying many people from this background put down roots and found a home in Appalachia.
Mr Martin continued by saying this is perhaps not surprising because “in recent years geologists discovered” that the Appalachian mountains do not begin or end in the US, and that millions of years ago part of it was also in modern day Ireland and the UK.
The Taoiseach also used his first speech of the day to reference the long-standing work of the US in the peace process, before saying that in a wider context the US “remains an indispensable partner”.
He said: “I know we care deeply about our children and our children’s children”.
Mr Martin finished his speech at the breakfast meeting by noting the US vice president’s confirmation he and his wife Usha took a trip to Ireland two years ago.
He thanked them for visiting the Ring of Kerry, Skibbereen in Co Cork “where our Olympic champions are from”, Cashel in Co Tipperary and Dublin, and welcomed that he “tasted the delight of the English Market” in Cork city.
The Taoiseach said “we would be honoured to welcome you back”, before noting the Mr Vance’s interest in golf, saying there is a good golf course in Doonbeg, which happens to be owned by US President Donald Trump.
Later Mr Trump will host Mr Martin in the White House, in a highly anticipated meeting which is expected to touch on Ireland’s trading relationship with the US.
Mr Trump will be presented with a bowl of shamrock as the centrepiece of the Government’s major overseas diplomatic push in the run-up to St Patrick’s Day.
Mr Martin said that a “two-way street” of investment is something he intends to highlight in his discussions with Mr Trump in a bid to address concerns he may voice around a trade imbalance between the two countries.
The Taoiseach expects to spend a large part of the meeting discussing economic matters with the president, who has spoken out against Ireland’s large goods trade surplus with the US, and has questioned why so many medicines made in Ireland for the US market are not made in the US.
A 25% tariff on all steel and aluminium tariffs has taken effect in the United States.
An article on the visit of the Taoiseach in today’s edition of the Wall Street Journal says Ireland has the fourth biggest trade surplus of any country in the world – after China, Mexico and Vietnam.
Ireland is the EU country with the biggest trade surplus with the US at $85 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.
That means a country with a population of 5.4 million people has a bigger goods trade surplus with the US than Germany, one of the world’s biggest exporters. Ireland also has a bigger trade surplus than Taiwan or Japan has with the US, according to the same source.
The WSJ report says pharmaceutical exports by US companies based in Ireland surged by 42% last year to some $50 billion, according to US trade data. That makes it equivalent to US passenger vehicle imports from Mexico last year, where most major car producers have assembly plants producing for the North American free trade area.
The European Commission disputes the size of the EU’s trade surplus with the US (of which Ireland’s surplus is a considerable part). Trade statistics are compiled differently by the commission and US agencies.
Nevertheless the goods trade surplus in the EU’s favour is viewed with hostility by President Trump and his administration.
The EU has offered to buy more US produced oil and gas to help reduce the goods trade gap (the US has a significant surplus in services exports), which the commission claims reduces the EU’s overall trade surplus by two thirds, to about $50 billion a year – a relatively easy gap to bridge, if it is simply about the trade in goods and services.
However, President Trump has spoken against VAT in the EU, which he claims is a form of tariff levied on US imports. In fact all goods sold in the EU are subject to VAT, regardless of where they originated, as it is a sales tax, not an import duty. Nevertheless it could complicate a delicate issue.
Donald Trump will be presented with a bowl of shamrock as the centrepiece of the Irish Government’s major overseas diplomatic push in the run-up to St Patrick’s Day
The Taoiseach has spoken several times this week about the two-way nature of the economic relationship with the US, noting that Ireland is now the sixth biggest foreign investor into the US, and Irish firms employ more than 200,000 workers in the US.
Convincing President Trump not to impose tariffs on Ireland and the wider EU will take considerable diplomatic skills, and its unlikely to be achieved today.
But the opening for a discussion on a very complex economic relationship provided by the St Patrick’s day meeting – and the feel-good atmosphere around St Patrick’s Day in the US – is a very significant thing, and can be of immense help in making the Irish case to the US President.
Following the Taoiseach’s breakfast meeting, he will go to the West Wing of the White House where he will hold a bilateral meeting with Mr Trump in the Oval Office.
The Taoiseach arrived in the US on Monday, spending some time in Austin, Texas, before moving on to Washington DC ahead of the highly anticipated meeting.
Speaking in Texas yesterday, the Taoiseach said he is looking forward to meeting Mr Trump and that the president is “always welcome to visit Ireland.”
“I’m looking forward to it. It’s a welcome opportunity. It reflects the very strong tradition between Ireland and the United States in celebrating the Irish American diaspora. It’s normally done in the week of St Patrick. Ireland Heritage Month was announced by the President in a very positive way.
“I think it’s an opportunity to celebrate that in the first instance, and then to discuss the issues of the day and obviously the economic relationship will be very strong and a key part of it,” he said.
However, Mr Martin said his message to companies operating in Ireland was to “hold the nerve” and not “react too quickly” to the potential major policy shifts.
A host of Government ministers are also travelling to the US this week, including Tánaiste Simon Harris, who is visiting Philadelphia and New York at a time described as a key juncture in European-US relations.
During his first term as Taoiseach, Mr Martin was unable to attend the White House on St Patrick’s Day in 2021 because of Covid-19 travel restrictions.
The following year, he tested positive for the virus in Washington on the eve of the scheduled shamrock ceremony. His meeting with then-US president Joe Biden was conducted via videolink.
Other matters of concern which may be raised in some format include legal status for undocumented Irish citizens living in the US.
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After the Oval Office meeting, Mr Martin will travel to the US Capitol building for the Friends of Ireland luncheon hosted by House Speaker Mike Johnson before returning to the White House for the traditional shamrock ceremony.
Asked if he would be inviting Mr Trump to visit Ireland or giving him an additional gift on top of the shamrock bowl, Mr Martin told reporters: “The President is always welcome to visit Ireland and obviously we’ll be engaging on that front.”
Elsewhere, Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly led an NI Chamber business delegation to North Carolina.
However, Ms Little-Pengelly has travelled to Washington without Ms O’Neill after Sinn Féin ruled out attending events in the US capital in protest against Mr Trump’s stance on Gaza.
Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn will also be in the city this week to “celebrate the strong ties between Northern Ireland and the United States”.
Additional reporting PA
