Ireland could act as bridge between US and EU after Bexit, says Varadkar
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said Ireland could play an important role as a bridge between the US and Europe post-Brexit.
Mr Varadkar said there was a risk of gaps emerging between the EU and America around issues such as tax and trade.
"There is a risk of widening differences and widening gaps between Europe and America around issues such as tax, issues such as trade, a different approach to climate change, security," he said.
"I actually think that's where Ireland can have a very important role being a bridge between America and Europe, interpreting one to the other."
He added that it was a role that could become very important in the future, particularly as the United Kingdom leaves the EU.
He made the comments after a visit to the Choctaw Nation in Durant, Oklahoma, to mark the fundraising efforts by the tribe's ancestors to help Ireland's famine victims in the mid-19th Century.
Mr Varadkar is in the US for a week-long trip of St Patrick's Day festivities.
He said he was looking forward to meeting President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in Washington DC later this week.
