Taoiseach gave Donald Trump €735 custom golf tee and marker set

Taoiseach Micheál Martin presented US President Donald Trump with a custom golf tee and marker set at a cost of nearly €735 during his visit to Washington for St Patrick’s Day last year.

The luxury item, which came in a personalised wooden box, was one of around 140 gifts worth a total of €5,709 given out by the Taoiseach during 2025, internal records have revealed.

They included a biography of Charles Haughey presented to former US senator George Mitchell last April, and 30 scented candles gifted to EU leaders at a cost of €934 during a visit to Brussels just before Christmas.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy received a bottle of Green Spot premium whiskey from Mr Martin during a meeting at Shannon Airport in February 2025, along with a merino scarf worth €37.80.

The Ukrainian leader got another bottle of whiskey from the Taoiseach when they met again last December. On that occasion, it was a bottle of 12-year-old Redbreast costing €64, along with a boxed set of Galway Crystal whiskey glasses worth €45.

Mr Zelenskyy was also presented with a statue of the Children of Lir, which cost €270, while his wife Olena was given a silver brooch worth €63 and a moss green linen scarf from The Stable that also cost €63.

More than €2,700 was spent on gifts for Mr Martin’s trip to Washington for St Patrick’s Day last year. The shamrock bowl alone cost €425, while First Lady Melania Trump was given a government harp brooch worth €148 and a Bord Bia hamper.

Vice President JD Vance was presented with silver cufflinks valued at €185 by the Taoiseach, while his wife Usha received a Meab Enamels silk scarf costing €55 and a Bord Bia hamper.

The vice president’s three children, Vivek, Ewan and Mirabel, were given picture books titled ‘Let’s See Ireland’ and ‘The Salmon of Knowledge’, as well as ‘Paddy Pals’ teddies called Padraic the Farmer and Róisín the Dancer.

Mr Martin also bought gifts for the staff of Blair House, where he stayed in Washington, as well as Mr Trump’s chief of staff, the chief executive of the US Chamber of Commerce, along with a number of governors, congressmen, and officials.

Former Garda commissioner Drew Harris was given a book titled ‘Ireland’s Curious Places’ and a silver Government Buildings bookmark worth €68 around the time that he announced his retirement last year.

Just before he was replaced as Taoiseach by Micheál Martin in January 2025, Fine Gael leader Simon Harris gave his deputy leader, Minister Helen McEntee, a silver Government Buildings brooch worth €68.

Aide de Camp Commandant Claire Mortimer was given Dublin Crystal engraved coasters by Simon Harris in January 2025, as well as a Government Buildings soy candle, engraved wooden pens, and a coffee mug by Micheál Martin in April.

Details of the gifts were released by the Department of the Taoiseach under the Freedom of Information Act.