A NUMBER OF Irish ministers are expected to attend an event at the US Ambassador’s residence in Dublin on Saturday morning to welcome US President Donald Trump to Ireland. 

Confirming the invite, Education Minister Hildegarde Naughton told reporters that the details of the event are not yet fully confirmed but that she will “hopefully” be there. 

“It’s a little bit in flux at the moment,” Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill added. 

The pair were speaking to reporters at the Fine Gael think-in in Gorey. 

Naughton said Ireland’s relationship with the US is “very important” for the country and that government must “continue to maintain those relationships”.

“I know the arrangements are being, I think, finalised at the moment, so we don’t have the exact details… But yes, when we know, when I know the details of them, yes, I’ll be there, hopefully,” she said. 

Tánaiste Simon Harris said “there’s a bit of fluidity as to who has and hasn’t been invited to the American ambassador’s residence, and it’s obviously a matter for the American ambassador”.

However, he confirmed he will be attending the event to carry out his duty as deputy head of the government.

When asked if he understood some politicians being reluctant to attending, Harris said it is “entirely up to people themselves to make those decisions as to whether they wish to be there or not”.

“I think it’s important that we keep our bilateral relations with the United States going. It’s a relationship that transcends any individual person, and it’s one that’s a very valuable economic relationship,” he added. 

Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee, Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon and junior minister Emer Higgins confirmed they will all be attending the event on Saturday morning.

McEntee said it is really important that now more than ever that Ireland works on the relationship between the US and Ireland. 

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Trump is expected to make a speech at US Ambassador Ed Walsh’s residence in the Phoenix Park tomorrow after he first meets with President Catherine Connolly and Taoiseach Micheál Martin. 

It is understood that hundreds of guests will be invited to attend the private event at Deerfield Residence.

It will be the first event of its kind at the US ambassador’s residence since former US president Ronald Reagan delivered remarks during a luncheon in the Deerfield ballroom while on his 1984 ancestral trip to Ireland.

After Trump’s visit to Deerfield, the US president will then depart Dublin for Doonbeg, where he will attend the Amgen Irish Open at his Trump International Hotel.

With reporting by Christina Finn