US Vice President JD Vance has again donned shamrock socks in honour of the St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Washington DC.

Mr Vance hosted Taoiseach Micheál Martin and his wife Mary for breakfast this morning, the first official function of the day and ahead of the Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump later this afternoon.

The Vice President said last year his friend Colin had encouraged him to wear socks that would honour Mr Martin.

“Last year when we did this breakfast, Colin said you have to wear socks to honour the Taoiseach. So I wore some shamrock socks. I have a different pair of shamrock socks here today,” Mr Vance said.

“Now I did that knowing that when we met the president later with the Taoiseach in the Oval Office, I’d be sitting down, he would see my socks and he would bust my chops about the fact that I was not wearing boring black socks but had this bright white shamrock socks.

“So we have a slightly more muted shamrock [today] but we’re going to see if the president notices in the Oval Office when we go to visit him in a couple of hours,” he added.

Sitting at the top table with the Taoiseach and Vice President at breakfast this morning was founder and CEO of multibillion payments firm Stripe, Patrick Collison.

In his speech, Mr Vance described Mr Collison as “one of the great entrepreneurs in the United States today”. 

Mr Vance said Ireland is an important economic and trading partner.

Speaking at a breakfast meeting with Taoiseach Micheal Martin in Washington DC, Mr Vance said about 375,000 US jobs depend on Ireland in one form or another, adding: “But I actually think that understates the cultural friendship between the United States and Ireland.

“So many of the greatest Americans were people who came from Ireland or their families came from Ireland.

“In the Republican Party, of course, we revere Ronald Reagan, a great Irishman and a great president of the United States.”

Mr Vance said most people in America know someone with a “deep connection” to Ireland.

“We love it and we admired it, and we cherished the incredible friendships that we have and the great things that Ireland has done for the United States of America.”

Mr Vance said he is “very grateful” for the friendship of Taoiseach Micheal Martin and “everything that unites the people of Ireland and the United States of America”.

Mr Martin is accompanied by his wife Mary and second lady Usha Vance is also present.

The breakfast was attended by US ambassador to Ireland Ed Walsh and Stripe chief executive Patrick Collison.

Mr Vance said attendees would be presented with a gift bag including a pint glass and “Donegal-style” wool socks.

The vice president was wearing a pair of socks with shamrocks for St Patrick’s Day.

He said this year’s pair was “slightly more muted” than the ones he wore in the Oval Office last year, for which he said US President Donald Trump “bust my chops”.

Mr Martin also gifted Mr Vance a special edition of Ulysses.

Mrl Martin hailed the “welcome” and “hospitality” of US vice president JD Vance.

Mr Martin gave a speech before a breakfast meeting with Mr Vance at his official residence in Washington DC.

The Taoiseach, who will later meet US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, said the breakfast was a “special start” for what would be an “unforgettable day”.

Mr Martin’s remarks referenced ties between Ireland and the US, and the respective countries campaigns for independence.

“Just one mile from where we sit this morning is Robert Emmett Memorial Park, named in honour of the Irish patriot who led a rebellion against the British in 1803.

“And in a famous speech from the dock before he was put to death, he declared: ‘I wish to procure for my country the guarantee which Washington procured for America’.

“The ideas of liberty, democracy and opportunity enshrined in your Declaration of Independence fired the imaginations of Ireland’s determined patriots, and our Proclamation of Independence of 1916 references just one other country: Yours.

“When it speaks of support to our cause from Ireland’s exiled children in America – and those exiled children, time and time again, have proved both their loyalty to America and their enduring links to their ancestral homeland.”

Children from “rich and diverse traditions” across the island of Ireland have “made their mark” on the US, Mr Martin said.

“Throughout the 250 years since America proudly raised the flag for freedom, Ireland’s sons and daughters sought to repay the gift of opportunity through service to their new homeland,” he said.

“Irish workers helped craft the skylines of America’s great cities and fortify the fabric of communities across the land.

“Immigrants from my home county of Cork moved to Ohio, where they built the roads, canals and railways, which literally laid the foundations of American greatness.

“The Scots-Irish who mostly came to Pennsylvania and the Appalachians – an area very close to your heart – brought not only their strong work ethic, but also fiddle tunes, which melded with the African-American banjo to gift to the world bluegrass.

“As firefighters, police officers, nurses, farmers and presidents – 23 of whom have had Irish heritage – our exiled children from all the rich and diverse traditions across our island have made their mark on this proud land.”

Mr Martin said it was a “distinct honour” to celebrate St Patrick’s Day as the US celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

In a note in a guestbook at the official residence of US vice president JD Vance, Mr Martin wrote: “May the strong, economic, people to people and cultural ties that bind the United States and Ireland continue to endure for generations to come.”

Following the meeting with Mr Vance, the Taoiseach will travel to the White House for a bilateral with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

Tabitha Monahan