Micheál Martin has described being back in Washington, DC for St Patrick’s Day as an honour in advance of a number of high-profile engagements with the US administration. On Sunday evening, Geraldine Byrne Nason, the Ambassador of Ireland to the United States, formally introduced the Taoiseach to a packed residence, with hundreds of guests including Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly. Byrne Nason hailed the last two days in Philadelphia with Martin, seeing “more of that green thread woven through the great tapestry of the great United States from the very, very beginning”, and the “forever romance between Ireland and the United States”. “It covers our politics, our culture, our history, our business and, most importantly, our peoples, that relationship between the United States and Ireland is enduring,” she said. Martin said celebrating St Patrick’s Day across the Atlantic carries particular resonance as the US marks 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Source: The Irish Times March 16, 2026 15:00 UTC