Traditionally jovial affair poses potential debacle for Irish leader at odds with US over foreign policy, tax and immigration
For Ireland’s leaders, it has long been the highlight of the political calendar: a love-fest in Washington with hosts who sport shamrocks and toast Saint Patrick.
Irish delegations are traditionally received on Capitol Hill and at the White House in a blaze of goodwill and backslapping that has them wishing every day was 17 March.
This time, however, feels different. When the taoiseach, Micheál Martin, presents Donald Trump with a bowl of shamrocks in the Oval Office next week, he will be walking a tightrope.
The US president’s mercurial nature and tensions between Dublin and Washington over foreign policy, corporate tax and immigration have turned the Irish-American showcase into a potential debacle.
