Tánaiste Simon Harris has agreed an in-person meeting with US secretary of state Marco Rubio during a phone call held between the pair on Tuesday afternoon.
The phone call, described as being “longer than expected”, touched on a “wide range of issues”, including the bilateral relationship between the US and Ireland and global crises including Ukraine and the Middle East, according to a statement released by Mr Harris’s spokesman afterwards.
The call was described as “useful, insightful and longer than expected”.
The pair also discussed the “mutually beneficial nature of the Irish-US economic relationship”, including Ireland’s investment in the US and “the hundreds of thousands of jobs created on both sides of the Atlantic by Irish and US investment”.
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Mr Harris, who is also the Minister for Foreign Affairs, told his US counterpart that he looked forward to working “constructively” with the US administration, recalling a phone call he held with president Donald Trump when Mr Harris was Taoiseach, last November.
Mr Harris thanked Mr Rubio for the “sustained and bipartisan engagement of the US in support of peace and reconciliation on the island of Ireland”.
The Tánaiste also briefed the secretary of state on St Patrick’s Day plans for his visit to the United States, as well as other ministerial trips, including an Irish Government visit to Mr Rubio’s home state of Florida.
“This was an opportune time for an exchange of views with the Secretary of State on a range of priority issues and they agreed to meet in person shortly.”
