An Taoiseach Micheál Martin and US Vice-President JD Vance met for the annual St Patick's Day breakfast in Washington DC ahead of his audience with Donald Trump.
The US Vice President joked he did not want to cause a diplomatic incident by calling An Taoiseach Micheal Martin the Prime Minister of Ireland.
The two leaders met in Washington DC today for a St Patrick’s Day breakfast.
Martin and his wife Mary were greeted by JD Vance and his wife, Second Lady Usha at the US Naval Observatory.
“Would you call yourself the Prime Minister as well, or is it just Taoiseach?”, he asked Martin before he addressed the press in attendance.
“Is that a little bit controversial?”
An Taoiseach replied that it wasn’t controversial as others may call him Prime Minister, he preferred to be referred to as Taoiseach.
“Okay, sounds good. So we'll call him Taoiseach, I don't want to cause any diplomatic incidents today”, Vance said.
The US Vice President said he was “thrilled to welcome [Martin and his wife] to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
Saint Patrick’s Day 2026 🍀 pic.twitter.com/9r1aXaS41V
— Office of the First Lady (@FirstLadyOffice) March 17, 2026
“To all of Ireland, to all of our wonderful Irish-Americans,and everybody who just loves an Irish-American, happy St. Patrick's Day.
“There's so many common cultural sensibilitiesand common things we can talk about, so many common interests between the United States and Ireland, and that's one of the things that we celebrate here this morning.”
He acknowledged the significant investments made by Ireland into the United States and the “75,000 American jobs depend on this country of Ireland in one form or another.”
He added that labelling Ireland simply as an important trading and economic partner for Ireland was understating “the cultural friendship between the United States and Ireland.”
“So many of the greatest Americans were people who came from Ireland or their families came from Ireland.
“In the Republican Party, of course, we revere Ronald Reagan, a great Irishman and a great president of the United States.”
During his address the Taoiseach reminded the room of the Irish Proclamation of Independence of 2016 referencing the United States.
“The exiled children of [Ireland] time and time again, have proved both their loyalty to America and their enduring links to their ancestral homeland.
“The US-Ireland economic relationship powers the technologies that will define the 21st century and underpin growth in our economies.”
He described the US-Ireland economic relationship as being capable of powering the technologies that will define the 21st century and underpin growth in both economies.
“Just as Ireland has been at the centre of the American story, so the United States helped forge the country I call home.
“The story of peace on the island of Ireland is one we crafted together. America’s unwavering support, over decades and from both sides of the aisle, made this possible.
“At the darkest and bleakest of times, you – all of you in this room – kept the faith.Today, that work continues.”
Main Image: Taoiseach Micheal Martin and his wife Mary meeting US Vice President JD Vance and wife Usha. Picture by: Alamy.
