Martin to pitch Trump on ‘two-way street’ of US-Irish investment
By David Young, PA, in Austin, Texas
Taoiseach Micheál Martin will tell President Donald Trump that there is a “two-way street” of investment between the US and Ireland, as a trade imbalance between the two countries looms over their upcoming bilateral.
Mr Trump will host the Taoiseach in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday as part of the Irish Government’s traditional St Patrick’s programme of overseas engagements.
The meeting comes amid heightened concern that the president’s protectionist approach to tariffs and tax could pose a significant risk to an Irish economy that is in large part sustained by long-standing investment by US multinationals.
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.
On Tuesday, he continues his itinerary in Austin, Texas, where he said his emphasis was to “copper fasten” the “enduring nature” of the US-Irish economic relationship.
That ambition will form part of his engagement with state legislators at the Texas Capitol in the city, before he departs the Lone Star State for Washington DC where he will attend a St Patrick’s Day Reception at the Irish Ambassador’s Residence.
On Monday, Mr Martin said the main point he will be making with Mr Trump is “how it’s a two-way street” of investment and that Ireland operates as a “powerful base” for the European single market.
While being interviewed for a fireside chat at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in the city, he added: “It’s not just American investment in Ireland, it’s Irish investment in America as well.
“We are buying a lot of stuff, a lot of American products. We have a lot of Irish companies based here that will grow, and that will continue to grow.”
Earlier, on Monday, Mr Martin met Texas Governor Greg Abbott and visited US tech multinationals Dell and Tricentis, with the latter announcing plans to hire 50 additional staff in its Cork base over the coming years.
He also met with businesses supported by Enterprise Ireland, introduced a panel on the Irish screen industry and participated in a “pop-up Gaeltacht” at the Department of Foreign Affairs hub for SXSW, Ireland House.
Mr Martin concluded his packed itinerary on Monday by attending a St Patrick’s reception at the same venue hosted by the Irish consulate in Austin.
Mr Martin and Mr Trump are expected to discuss a range of issues on Wednesday, including the war in Ukraine and the situations in the Middle East and Northern Ireland.
The Irish leader will later present Mr Trump with the traditional shamrock bowl in the White House, extending St Patrick’s Day greetings from the people of Ireland to the people of the US
A host of Irish Government ministers will also travel to the US, including Tánaiste Simon Harris, who will visit Philadelphia and New York at a time described as a key juncture in European-US relations.
Elsewhere, Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly led an NI Chamber business delegation to North Carolina on Monday.
Ms Little-Pengelly will attend Washington DC engagements alone after Ms O’Neill and her Sinn Féin party colleagues ruled out travelling to the US capital as part of “a principled stance against the threat of mass expulsion of the Palestinian people from Gaza”.
