Every St Patrick’s Day, Ireland’s Taoiseach travels to Washington to present a bowl of shamrocks to the US president, a diplomatic tradition that dates back to the 1950s. For decades it was a gentle ritual of Irish-American friendship. But in the era of Donald Trump, Oval Office meetings with foreign leaders have become far less predictable. 

Last year, Micheál Martin avoided the kind of public clash that had erupted days earlier between Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This year’s visit comes at another tense international moment — and with criticism from Ireland’s president Catherine Connolly over US-Israeli strikes on Iran. So what kind of reception might the Taoiseach face this time? 

Ciara Doherty is joined by Newstalk’s political correspondent Seán Defoe, who has been inside those Oval Office encounters, to explain how the shamrock ceremony works, why the stakes feel higher now, and what Micheál Martin could be walking into this St Patrick’s Day.