Irish President Catherine Connolly told US President Donald Trump “the normalisation of war and genocide can never be accepted”.

In a statement following the meeting at Áras an Uachtaráin, Ms Connolly said: “As president of Ireland, I am very conscious that Ireland and the United States of America are bound by strong ties. This is a deep connection, built over centuries, which allows us to speak openly to one another.

“We are in a world facing the existential threat posed by war and climate change, both of which are inextricably interlinked.

“I conveyed the strong view of the Irish people that the normalisation of war and genocide can never be accepted.

“As a country which has suffered famine, colonisation and the violence of the Troubles, but also the importance of the long and challenging road to peace, I emphasised the unique insight which Irish people can bring to the resolution of conflict.

“I highlighted to President Trump the strong commitment which the Irish people have to international relations, to the importance of the United Nations, including the pride which Irish people feel in Ireland’s contribution to UN peacekeeping since 1958, and to the obligations contained within article 29 of our constitution towards the peaceful resolution of international disputes.

“I assured President Trump that the Irish people would strongly support all those who have the strength to build a shared peace in all those parts of the world currently suffering from such horrific war and violence.”

To mark the courtesy call, Ms Connolly gifted Trump a St Brigid’s Cross, a copy of the book Navigatio Sancti Brendani – The Voyage of St Brendan and the collected poems of Michael Longley, including his sonnet Ceasefire.

Donald Trump has confirmed he plans to return to Ireland next year to attend the 2027 Ryder Cup in Limerick.

The US president was meeting Taoiseach Micheál Martin at Farmleigh House in Dublin to kick off a two-day visit to the Emerald Isle, during which he also made the explosive assertion that he would “love” to see a united Ireland.

Asked if he would come back to Ireland for the next edition of the Ryder Cup, Trump replied: “I will, absolutely. It’s a big tournament.”

Trump flew overnight to Ireland after observing the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

The Republican president spent the two nights before Friday’s solemn observance giving lengthy speeches at a political pep rally in Dallas.

Micheál Martin invited Trump to visit Ireland when they met at the White House on St. Patrick’s Day this year, and Ireland’s political leaders will likely see the visit as a chance to maintain warm trans-Atlantic relations despite differences over trade and foreign policy, issues the White House said Trump wants to discuss.

Martin said before Trump arrived that he looked forward to discussing issues of “mutual interest” and “reaffirming the strong economic, cultural and people-to-people ties between Ireland and the United States.”

Some residents are annoyed at the disruption caused by Trump’s visit, suggesting it has caused “mayhem”.

Police put up a cordon around Dublin’s 1,750-acre (700-hectare) Phoenix Park, where he met Connolly at her residence, Áras an Uachtaráin.

He will meet Martin, the taoiseach, at the government’s Farmleigh state guesthouse and stop by Deerfield, the ambassador’s residence.

“He’s causing mayhem in this city because he wants to go down to Doonbeg and play golf,” said taxi driver Christopher Fox, emphatically not a fan of Trump.

“The world’s in turmoil and this fella’s down playing golf.”

Trump’s son, Eric, says the family is loved in Ireland, despite protests planned over his father’s visit.

Speaking to Irish national broadcaster RTE on Friday in Doonbeg, home to the Trump International golf resort, Eric Trump said the course is the largest employer in the area.

“Go down to Morrissey’s tavern in Doonbeg and hear from a real Irish person as to whether or not they like President Trump and the Trump family, go have them attest to what we’ve done for the country and what we’ve invested in the country and the love and respect that our family has always shown them,” he said.

Nine months before Donald Trump was voted in as US president for the first time in 2016, he was asked at a campaign rally about a large golf course he purchased on a picturesque sliver of Ireland’s Atlantic coast.

“We spent a lot of money on making it just perfecto and now it’s doing great. But I don’t care about that stuff anymore. It is like small potatoes,” he said.

His interest in the site appears to have suddenly been rekindled. This weekend, protesters will turn out at the course in Doonbeg, Co Clare and across Ireland as he makes his first visit to the island as US president since 2019.

Irish President Catherine Connolly is a left-wing politician who was among those who protested when Trump visited Ireland in 2019 during his first term in office.

A supporter of the Palestinian cause, she in the past has criticised US policy in the Middle East and called Trump a “bully.”

The Irish president met Trump at the end of a red carpet at her official residence.

They shook hands and chatted before going inside.

He emerged alone a few minutes later and saluted as an Irish Defence Forces band played the US national anthem and inspected an Irish Army honor guard.

Connolly then joined Trump outdoors to introduce the US and Irish delegations before the leaders went back inside for their closed-door talks.

Donald Trump said that Ireland is “now the sixth largest source of foreign direct investment in the United States”.

Addressing guests at the residence of the US ambassador, he said: “I’m pleased to say that Ireland is now the sixth largest source of foreign direct investment in the United States, with nearly 392 billion dollars invested in 2025.

“And because the market is the best market we’ve ever had, we hit 80 all-time highs during this period of about 15 months, up to 15 months, it hit 80, so your investment is up probably 60 per cent or 70 per cent.”