Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
TRUMP’S BORDER INVITE
Irish trip planned for President after St Pat’s meeting
IRELAND’S Taoiseach wants to bring Donald Trump to the border as part of a proposed visit.
The pair will meet today at a traditional St Patrick’s event in Washington and Leo Varadkar said it was “normal hospitality to reciprocate with an invitation”.
He plans a border trip as part of this, adding: “That’s something he expressed an interest in when we spoke.”
Meanwhile, Arlene Foster warned Mr Varadkar to keep quiet on power-sharing.
LEO Varadkar is planning to take Donald Trump to the border – but he won’t be joining him on the golf course at Doonbeg.
The Taoiseach was speaking i n Washington ahead of his historic meeting with the US President.
He said an offer to the President from his predecessor Enda Kenny still stands and he likened it to extending an invitation to someone to visit your house after you visited theirs.
Mr Varadkar also revealed he is not a golfer, so a game with Mr Trump on the course he owns in Doonbeg, Co Clare, is definitely not on the cards.
However, the Irish leader will be joined by the Government’s special envoy to the US, Fine Gael TD John Deasy, at the White House, and as he is an extremely useful single-digit handicap golfer he may oblige in the Taoiseach’s place.
Mr Varadkar said: “The invitation Enda Kenny made to Donald Trump stands, he has invited me to Washington DC and he is going to invite me to his house.
“I think it is absolutely appropriate, it’s just normal hospitality, that when somebody invites you to their front room in their house that you reciprocate with an invitation.
“So the invitation absolutely still stands. I’m not into golf, so I won’t be playing a round at Doonbeg, but perhaps there will be an opportunity to potentially visit some of the Irish companies that invest in the US, and also as well perhaps to see the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.
“I know that’s something he expressed an interest in when we spoke on the phone some months ago – he was very interested in that.
“There have been no discussions about a visit, but the invitation stands.
“He has invited me as Taoiseach, Prime Minister of
Ireland, to visit him in the White House and of course I intend to reciprocate.”
Mr Varadkar was also asked if he was comfortable with Congressman Peter King being honoured at this week’s St Patrick’s week celebrations for his work on the Peace Process.
However, the Republican is known to be anti-gay marriage, while Mr Varadkar is an openly gay man and supporter of gay marriage. The Taoiseach said: “I am comfortable, I attend meetings and events I don’t 100% agree with all the time.
“I even form coalitions with people I don’t agree with sometimes. So if I wasn’t comfortable with people who don’t agree with me on every issue I would be in a constant state of discomfort, but I can assure you I am not.
“But bear in mind, above all things Peter King has been a very good friend to Ireland and we need friends in this place and that overrides difference we may have over other issues.”
Labour Senator Aodhan O Riordain described the Taoiseach’s invitation as “an insult to the immigrant story of the Irish on the eve of our National Holiday”.
He fumed: “Where Mexican-americans and Muslim-americans now walk, the Irish once walked. It is an outrage the Taoiseach of our country is inviting to Ireland a man who is internationally renowned for the hate that he spawns.”