The Government is readying a full-scale trade “blitz” in the US as part of the St Patrick’s Day celebrations to “send a message to Donald Trump that Ireland is open for business”, write John Lee and Brian Mahon.

Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Harris will bring a proposal to Cabinet today to send as many as ten ministers to 40 locations around the world as part of the programme.

But this year’s events will be more keenly focused on the States than ever before, with ministers on a mission to highlight the importance of the US-Ireland economic relationship.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Mr Harris and eight ministers will travel to locations including Washington DC, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Miami, Seattle, Atlanta and Savannah.

Mr Harris will today take part in an unscheduled meeting of EU trade ministers to discuss the bloc’s response to the 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into the US that President Trump has ordered.

The tariff will take effect from March 12 – five days before the traditional Shamrock ceremony in the White House.

No invitation to the annual event has been received from the US government so far, but the Taoiseach has said he expects it to go ahead as usual.

A senior Cabinet minister said the Government will use the opportunity to launch a “Trump blitz”.

“There will be a full-scale diplomatic assault, there’s no doubt about it,” they added.

Another source said the plans would “send a message to Donald Trump that Ireland is open for business”.

Ireland’s historic relationship with the US has not made it immune to the economic threats posed by the Trump administration.

US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick – the man charged with imposing sweeping tariffs – has been highly critical of Ireland’s trade policies.

In October last year he tweeted: “It’s nonsense Ireland of all places runs a trade surplus at our expense... When we end this nonsense, America will be a truly great country again. You’ll be shocked!”

A Cabinet minister said: “We are fully cognisant of the fact that our reputation on Capitol Hill and in the White House is not what it was.

“So this US-focused St Patrick’s blitz is very much about sending a message to Donald Trump and his team that we value the historic ties between our countries.

“We also want to inform Trump on St Patrick’s Day that we are open for business with the US and we want to maintain our very deep ties.”

The source said that “the final figure for those travelling there isn’t decided yet but, as of last night, we were sending over a dozen ministers to visit 14 cities in the US that week”.

They added: “The Government is very anxious to remind the US administration that we have an extremely important two-way relationship.

“There’s 115,000 jobs created in the top ten Irish companies that operate there. So one of the key things will be the two-way economic relationship.

“But with what is going on with tariffs and the impending strife over steel and aluminium exports from the EU to America, we want to make sure we make the Irish case in the US, and personally to Mr Trump and his team.”

Micheál Martin will travel to Washington DC the week before St Patrick’s Day, which falls on a Monday.

He is also expected to visit another eastern US city.

Mr Harris will go to New York between March 14 and 18.

Business Minister Peter Burke will also travel to the US, though Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers will not be going.

BusinessPlus.ie has also learned Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy will travel abroad to an as-yet-undisclosed destination.

The most senior minister left here on the big day will be Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon.

Government sources acknowledged they had failed to build as strong a relationship with the American Republican Party as with the Democrats.

“There was a little bit of concern in the Irish system and I would subscribe to that a little bit,” they said.

“But the ambassador out there [Geraldine Byrne] is doing a lot of work on the Republican side.

“We have more of an effort to make there. We have to be impartial on foreign policy and keeping our contacts in both parties.”

A Cabinet source summed the blitz up by saying: “Our assessment is very much that Trump buckles to flattery and kind words. Nobody wields the kind of power the Irish do through the St Patrick’s Day extravaganza.”