Ireland’s prime minister appears to be backtracking over remarks he made in the country’s parliament about Donald Trump using “racist and dangerous” language. Enda Kenny is to present a bowl of Irish shamrocks to Trump in the White House on Thursday as part of annual St Patrick’s Day celebrations. The remarks drew the ire of Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader and Trump supporter, who called on Kenny to apologise to Trump in person. An embargoed copy of the speech fell into the Irish media’s hands only for it to be withdrawn from them an hour later. They are the openly gay minister Leo Varadkar and the bookies’ favourite, Simon Coveney, Ireland’s housing minister.

Source: The Guardian March 16, 2017 10:25 UTC