Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said trade and Ireland's position in Europe will be top of his agenda when he meets the US President Donald Trump at the White House later today.
Mr Varadkar and Mr Trump are expected to meet for around 40 minutes.
The Taoiseach says it is not possible to fit everything into one meeting and that, while he wants to raise issues such as human rights and climate change, trade will be top of his agenda
He said he will highlight the fact that Ireland has a balanced economic relationship with the US, as investment and jobs flow in both directions, and that there should be no new barriers to trade.
The Taoiseach also hopes to discuss Ireland's position in a post-Brexit Europe.
After Britain leaves the EU, Ireland will be the only English-speaking country in the union and the country closest to America in terms of culture and business systems.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
This, the Taoiseach said, can give Ireland an enhanced role as a bridge between the EU and the US.
After his meeting with President Trump, Mr Varadkar will attend a lunch on to Capitol Hill before returning to the White House for the traditional St Patrick's Day shamrock ceremony.
Last night, Mr Varadkar insisted that he would invite Mr Trump to visit Ireland.
He told RTÉ News: "If we boycotted every leader someone had an issue with, you might be serene on your high horse but you’d have very few people to talk to."
When asked about calls from some members of the Opposition to cancel the event and to revoke President Trump’s invitation to visit the country, he said he was taking a common sense view.
"If you’re invited to someone’s house, you invite them back," he said.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Leo Varadkar spoke to the Ireland Funds Gala Dinner in Washington last night pic.twitter.com/xbSWzVSWp6
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) March 15, 2018
Last night, Mr Varadkar attended the Ireland Funds Gala Dinner in Washington DC and in his speech he spoke of how the American Dream and the "Irish Dream" have become intertwined.
He said: "American ideas and American values that spread around the world meant that a young boy growing up in Ireland, with an Indian father and an Irish mother, could dream of one day becoming the leader of his country, believing that the time would come when people would be judged on their principles and their ideals, on the content of their character and the quality of their work, and not on their sexuality or the colour of their skin.
"These are our Irish values today. We believe in equality before the law for all citizens, irrespective of gender, religion, race or sexual orientation. We believe in free trade and free enterprise."
Tomorrow, Leo Varadkar is due to meet the US Vice President Mike Pence, an event that is likely to take place behind closed doors.
Mr Pence has conservative views in the area of gay rights, an issue Mr Varadkar said he hopes to raise with him.
He said: "I’ll be telling him that after our meeting I’ll be travelling to New York and visiting the Stonewall Inn, a place where gay and lesbian people first fought for their rights."
The Taoiseach said that in his view it is not the economy or military that makes the US great but the country’s values.
"I'm going to use this opportunity to highlight the fact that American freedom and personal liberty have inspired the world and I wouldn’t want to see the US turning its back on these values," he said.
Boyd-Barrett urges Taoiseach to tackle Trump on migration, climate change
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd-Barrett has criticised the Taoiseach over his invitation to Mr Trump, describing the US president's politics as dangerous and racist.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said Mr Trump's policies are "literally threatening the future of humanity" after his withdrawal from the Paris climate change agreement.
He said he does not see how "giving him a platform to promote his dangerous politics in Ireland can be a good idea".
Asked about the possible impact of withdrawing the invitation to Mr Trump, he said he did not believe it would have a big impact economically, but would be a powerful political message from the Irish Government.
"I think huge numbers of Americans would cheer . . . that an Irish leader had enough political gumption to stand up to the dangerous, racist, sexist, warmongering policies of Trump", said Mr Boyd-Barrett.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said the Office of the President of the United States has a "very special place in Ireland" and "we would be very foolish as a country to undermine that relationship".
He said Mr Varadkar was right to extend the invitation to Mr Trump and Ireland gets access beyond any other country in Washington.
He said: "There are 40 millions Americans that consider themselves of Irish descent so this is a very special relationship and we need to keep it intact".
Mr Coveney said that if President Trump did come to Ireland he hoped that he would be welcomed here.
