Companies operating in Ireland need to "hold the nerve" in the face of threatened US tariffs, the Taoiseach has told a major conference in Texas.
Micheál Martin has said he will tell President Donald Trump that there is a "two-way street" of investment between the US and Ireland when they meet later this week.
Amid heightened concern that the president's protectionist approach to tariffs and tax could pose a significant risk to an Irish economy that is in large part sustained by long-standing investment by US multinational, Mr Martin will also seek to promote the virtues of the US-Ireland relationship which he said "is a bit more complex than gets presented by figures".
Mr Martin will hold talks with Mr Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday, but he began his traditional St Patrick's programme of engagements in the US with a visit to Austin, Texas - a state the Taoiseach said had witnessed a "new wave of Irish investment" with 120 Irish companies creating about 4,000 jobs.
The Fianna Fáil leader said he wanted to use the trip to highlight the "enduring nature" of the US-Irish economic relationship.
Mr Martin initially declined to be drawn on questions about how he intended to handle the meeting with Mr Trump in Washington DC, insisting he was taking his visit "day by day" and that his focus on Monday was on engagements in Austin, including a meeting with Republican state governor Greg Abbott.
"I represent the country, the people of Ireland, and I am very, very conscious that in a very challenging world, thousands and thousands of jobs depend on the economic relationship between the United States and Ireland," he added.
"And my overriding objective is to copper fasten that for the time ahead and to protect those people who are working in jobs. And that is very important."
Pressed on his strategy for the meeting with Mr Trump, Mr Martin said: "Our strategy really is to - notwithstanding all the commentary - bring home the idea that (the US has) an enduring, robust presence in Ireland and the relationship is a very strong one that we want to see grow into the future."
However, he later revealed his main emphasis for the meeting when he appeared for a fireside chat at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival: "How it's a two-way street will be the main point I'd be making. It's not just American investment in Ireland, it's Irish investment in America as well. We are buying a lot of stuff, a lot of American products. We have a lot of Irish companies based here that will grow, and that will continue to grow."
Mr Martin also urged companies with investments in Ireland not to "react too quickly" to the threat of Mr Trump imposing 25% tariffs on the EU, adding that they should see "how the land settles".
He said: "Hold the nerve, this is a period we've got to navigate."
The Taoiseach also argued that Ireland is a "powerful base" for US companies to access the European single market.
Elsewhere, he said that Ryanair and AerCap's purchase of Boeing aircraft is not captured in the US Department of Commerce figures and that Ireland's "high standards" in life sciences is beneficial to US pharmaceutical companies.
Earlier, Mr Martin visited US multinational tech companies Dell and Tricentis, with the latter announcing plans to hire 50 additional staff in its Cork base over the coming years.
"Meetings of this kind very often can sow a seed for future investments," he said.
"To bring home to the companies the strength of what Ireland has to offer in terms of a stable political environment, a very clear investment framework, and also then in terms of human capital."
Mr Martin said Ireland had a strong position as a member of the European Union to attract the right employees to meet the objectives of companies investing in the country.
For the Irish creative sector, the Taoiseach told a different SXSW panel that Ireland can offer filmmakers competitive tax incentives, funding supports and excellent production facilities.
That event was staged at the Marlow bar in downtown Austin, which the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs has rebranded as Ireland House for the festival.
There, Mr Martin also met companies that were supported by the Enterprise Ireland development agency and spoke at a a "pop-up Gaeltacht" aimed at promoting the Irish language.
The Taoiseach earlier insisted that the US remained an "indispensable partner at a time of great peril in the world".
Mr Martin and Mr Trump are expected to discuss a range of issues on Wednesday, including the war in Ukraine and the situations in the Middle East and Northern Ireland.
Mr Martin will later present Mr Trump with the traditional shamrock bowl in the White House, extending St Patrick's Day greetings from the people of Ireland to the people of the US
Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly will lead an NI Chamber business delegation to North Carolina on Monday.
Ms Little-Pengelly will later travel alone to Washington DC for engagements.
Ms O'Neill and Sinn Féin party colleagues are not travelling to Washington as part of "a principled stance against the threat of mass expulsion of the Palestinian people from Gaza".
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'Value of the transatlantic alliance'
CEO of the Munich Security Conference Benedict Franke said Mr Martin should stress the value of the transatlantic alliance when he meets Mr Trump later this week.
Speaking on RTÉ's Six One, Mr Franke said there was a "right way" to approach the US administration.
"I think what he [Micheál Martin] probably saw in Munich is the right way to approach the US administration at this current time ...to ensure that he demonstrates the value of the transatlantic alliance, the value of multilateral and bilateral cooperation and the willingness to bring even more to the table down the road," he said.
The Munich Security Conference was held last month, and Mr Franke said that European countries are now trying to become more independent from the US in the aftermath - something he does not fully agree with.
"I think we've seen since the conference a new sense of urgency in European efforts to take care of their own defence in becoming more independent of the US both economically and militarily.
"We need to do a lot more, but I would argue that we shouldn't strive to be totally independent. It is in our interest to make sure that the Americans stay involved in European security."
Ahead of talks in Saudi Arabia tomorrow between Ukraine and the US, Mr Franke said that the war between Ukraine and Russia needed to end in a way that was sustainable.
"It's in our interest to see the war in Ukraine end, it is massively in our interest that the war ends in a way that is sustainable, so not taking advantage of the Ukrainians and not rewarding the aggressor," he said.
"When we see an outcome, if it is going to reward the aggressor or disadvantage the Ukrainians, then we will know if we'll have a serious, serious problem down the road," he added.
