Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he would have “no issue” with US president Donald Trump addressing the Oireachtas during a possible Ryder Cup trip to Ireland in two years’ time.
Asked during his visit to New York last week about the possibility of Mr Trump being afforded the honour, Mr Martin said he “personally” had no issue with it.
The Ryder Cup, which is taking place in Bethpage Black golf course in Farmingdale, New York, is due to be held in Adare Manor in Co Clare in 2027.
Ireland’s hosting of the event came up during a brief conversation between Mr Martin and Mr Trump in New York last Tuesday.
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Both Mr Martin and Mr Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly last week, with the US president clocking in a marathon speech of 56 minutes – far beyond the 15-minute time limit given to heads of state.
Mr Martin said any potential addressing of the Oireachtas “would depend”, adding “there would probably be different views”.
On the scope for managing such events, he said: “We don’t dictate the content of a speech of anybody who is invited to speak to the Oireachtas. But we will jump those hurdles when we come to them.
“The last couple of speeches we had there, some went on far too long. Previous times you might have had two or three speeches when a dignitary came. Now it is 10 or 11. It is not the occasion it once was, that would be a concern of mine.
“There has to be common sense in how these things are handled at parliamentary level but that’s a matter for the Ceann Comhairle.”
On the possibility of protest by some political parties, the Taoiseach replied: “That’s realpolitik. People are going to have different views and they are going to protest. It is going to happen, it happened in the UK, there were protests. You have to look at what strategically the objective is.”
He pointed out that UK prime minister Keir Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macron deserve “some credit” for their “outreach” and continuing to work with Mr Trump.
Meanwhile, Mr Martin said he had spoken to the Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, in New York about the need for full accountability and justice for Pte Seán Rooney. Mr Martin said Mr Aoun “indicated that the case is not finished – that there will be further progression in terms of the appeals that have happened.
“It’s a very noble calling to put yourself in harm’s way and Sean Rooney did that. He deserves and his family deserves justice. It has been frustrating and I articulated that to president Aoun.”
Pte Rooney (24), from Newtowncunningham, Co Donegal, was killed while serving in Lebanon when his UN peacekeeping convoy was attacked on December 14th, 2022.
The shooting, near the town of Al-Aqbiya in the south of Lebanon, a stronghold of militant group Hizbullah, resulted in the death of Pte Rooney, while trooper Shane Kearney (22) was badly wounded.
Last month, an appeal was lodged in Lebanon against the leniency of sentences handed down to a number of people involved in the murder of Pte Rooney.
A military tribunal in Beirut convicted one main defendant, Mohammad Ayyad, for the murder of Pte Rooney, and he has been sentenced to death.
