Christina Finn reports from Washington DC

TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN urged US vice president JD Vance to visit Ireland when the two leaders sat down for St Patrick’s Day breakfast this morning.

Martin and his wife Mary were greeted by the Vance and his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance at the US Naval Observatory.

“Glad to have you guys,” Vance told them, before they were ushered inside for the breakfast.

“They say a week is a long time in politics, but one of the greatest Irish writers, James Joyce, laid bare so much about the human soul in just one day,” Martin said.

“Above all, his book, Ulysses is, of course, a journey. A journey through Dublin, the journey into the meaning that can be found in the everyday, and at some level, a journey home.

“As we continue our own journeys, I’m pleased to present you with a special edition of this masterpiece, and it is our hope that this literary token of Dublin recalls happy memories of your and Usha’s road trip around Ireland and encourages you and your growing family to make a return journey in the not too distant future.”

Speaking at the breakfast, Vance said there were lots of “common interests” between Ireland and the United States. 

“I have this just long list of all the investments that Ireland is making in the United States of America, all the things that we’re doing in the country of Ireland,” he said.

“Of course, about 375,000 American jobs depend on the country of Ireland in one form or another. So just an important, important trading and economic partner.”

He added this “underestimates” the cultural friendship between the two nations, highlighting that some of the “greatest Americans were people who came from Ireland or their families came from Ireland”.

In particular, Vance cited former US President Ronald Reagan.

He also showed Martin that he was wearing shamrock socks, as he did last year.

He joked that he was wearing more muted socks this year, after Donald Trump “bust my chops” for not wearing “boring black socks”.

“We’re going to see if the president notices in the Oval Office when we go to visit him in a couple of hours,” Vance said.

Attendees included Ireland’s Ambassador to the US, Geraldine Byrne Nason and her US counterpart, Edward Walsh.

Also in attendance was Markwayne Mullin, a senator from Oklahoma who has been selected to serve as the new Secretary of Homeland Security, as well as Patrick Collison, the founder of payments firm Stripe.

The Taoiseach singled out Collison, saying he first met him while Education Minister and while Collision was a student at the Young Scientist competition.

“He didn’t hang around, and he went straight to America to create this great company.”