Since the inauguration in January, US president Donald Trump has enjoyed filling the Oval Office with acolytes and bystanders in a series of meetings that are freewheeling and unpredictable.
All that truly matters to Taoiseach Micheál Martin is that he will be there and the US president will be sitting across from him on Wednesday.
The Taoiseach was pressed again in Austin on Tuesday for some sort of sneak preview into how he envisages the sit-down going. Once again, he was cheerfully guarded.
Of the news that three members of the Burke clan – the evangelical Christian family from Co Mayo who disrupt public events attended by Government figures over their policies on transgenderism – travelled to Washington on Tuesday, he all but shrugged.
“I’m not familiar with the travel arrangements of any family. People are free to travel. As far as I’m concerned, I am going to represent the Irish people on behalf of the Government of Ireland, the people of Ireland. I have a lot of functions all week and that is what I am focused on.”
Elon Musk has been a conspicuous supporter of Enoch Burke, who is in an ongoing dispute with Wilson’s Hospital School.
It seems unlikely that the Burkes are visiting the capital merely to tour the museums and national mall.
The news of their presence in Washington underlined the potential volatility that accompanies any engagement with the Trump White House.
Martin said he spent a pleasant hour with Greg Abbott - who is close to Trump - in the Texas governor’s downtown mansion on Tuesday.
“He didn’t have any specific advice,” Martin said. “The conversation didn’t go in that direction, although he knows I am going to the White House and he said he gets on very well with President Trump.
“And again, the experience has been very good in terms of the personal relationship,” he said before returning to his persistent line that this year’s St Patrick’s engagement will be consistent with all previous encounters in the White House.
“You’re intrigued by it all,” he laughed. “Looking forward to it. It is a welcome opportunity. It reflects the strong relationship between Ireland and the United States in celebrating the Irish American diaspora.
“Ireland’s heritage month was announced by the president in a very positive way, and it is an opportunity to celebrate this and then to discuss the issues of the day and the economic relationship will be a key part of it.”
During a public talk at the SXSW festival in Austin on Monday, the Taoiseach did touch on the issue of tariffs when he said his advice to Irish companies would be to “hold your nerve”.
“I meant that generally in terms of Irish companies exporting to the US and Irish companies located in the US,” he said on Tuesday.
“And many major companies like Glanbia and the Kerry Group have been here for some time and they are resourceful companies. The great lesson of those companies is survival, adaptation and change. I have spoken to a number of pharmaceutical companies, and they are in Ireland for the long haul.
“I think what will happen is that there will be a debate in the US, independent of any particular European country and Ireland also. And I think we just have to monitor the situation. We are a small, open trading economy, and we believe in free trade. The United States is a much bigger entity, so it comes at it from a different perspective.”
With the focus on Capitol Hill revolving around budgetary issues and the jittery US stock market, the fears that the Taoiseach might be walking into something of an ambush seem increasingly unlikely.
After the treatment of Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the White House is due a happy engagement. The Irish might be arriving at just the right time.
[ ‘Just say thank you’: How Trump-Zelenskiy meeting descended into slanging matchOpens in new window ]
But there is always the potential for discussions on Gaza and Ukraine to provoke either the president or his supporting cast.
“We will take it step by step. I am not going into a rehearsal of the meeting, but we are all fundamentally agreed on peace. And my focus is on copper-fastening the ceasefire and the release of all hostages,” the Taoiseach said. “And also, then a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza because the people of Gaza have suffered to an enormous degree, and it can’t be allowed to continue.
“We are fundamentally focused on the need for peace both in Gaza and the Ukraine. Hamas, I think, have to focus on the release of hostages and do what is required to move us on to the second stage of the ceasefire.
“I am not going into the meeting with a list of this, that and the other. We will go into discuss, with respect, and give each other’s perspectives on the various issues that arise.”
Asked whether he can produce a rabbit comparable to the royal invitation proffered by Keir Starmer to accompany Ireland’s traditional bowl of shamrock, the Taoiseach laughed.
“Ah, well look, the president is always welcome to visit Ireland and we have been engaging on that front.”
Cards played close, then, until the moment they will be laid out on the coffee table in the Oval Office.
