Irish premier praises Trump’s progress on brokering peace ahead of meeting

Irish premier Micheal Martin has hailed Donald Trump’s focus and “progress” on brokering peace since he returned to the White House.

The Taoiseach was speaking at the US vice president’s official residence as part of a day of engagements in Washington DC for St Patrick’s Day.

Mr Martin and his wife Mary were greeted by Mr Vance and his wife Usha at the US Naval Observatory ahead of a breakfast meeting where there was a warm exchange of words.

Mr Vance hailed the US relationship with Ireland as “one of the great alliances” between nations.

“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.

Mr Martin said that peace on the island of Ireland was “a signature achievement” of US foreign policy and that Ireland was ready to “play our part” in ending other conflicts.

“Nowhere is the strength of the US-Irish relationship more in evidence than in our own peace process,” Mr Martin said.

“Politicians from both sides of the aisle rose to the occasion, and the lasting peace we enjoy today on our island is a signature achievement of US foreign policy.

“This story of peace is one that we both wrote together. We know that building peace is a difficult and painstaking task, and we are ready to play our part in supporting work to end conflict and to secure peace in Ukraine or in the Middle East or wherever.

“We welcome very much the unrelenting focus and effort that President Trump and his administration has brought to this task from his very first days in office, and we welcome the progress that is clearly being made.”

“We would be honoured and delighted to welcome you both back to our shores before too long,” Mr Martin said.

“Now, the vice president did say the road trip could be somewhat difficult next time around, given the number of vehicles that might have to be attached.”

Referring to his visit to Ireland, Mr Vance praised its “incredible” communities, “beautiful” landscapes and “interesting technological growth”.

He said: “One of the more robust areas for us to work on with our Irish friends in the years to come is going to be technology and particularly artificial intelligence, as we really take the next stage in an important level of technological progress.”

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 dress sense after seeing Mr Vance’s socks.

He continued: “The United States has been a steadfast friend of Ireland for centuries. Indeed, the United States was the first country to recognise our long-sought 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.

The Taoiseach will later take part in a highly anticipated meeting with President Trump at the White House, 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 Irish Government’s major overseas diplomatic push in the run-up to St Patrick’s Day on March 17.