Kenny to raise new US travel ban in meeting with Trump

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has confirmed he will raise his concerns about US president Donald Trump’s travel ban during their meeting in Washington next week.

Mr Trump has set out his second attempt at blocking entry to the US for people from a number of Muslim majority countries after the first effort was blocked by judges within weeks of its implementation in January.

The revised order comes into force on March 16th, the day the Taoiseach is due to meet Mr Trump.

Mr Kenny previously spoke out against the original travel ban and voiced strong disagreement with the measure. The revised version will bar entry to the country from Libya, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

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The Taoiseach told reporters on Wednesday that he will ensure the travel ban is brought up in discussions with Mr Trump and vice-president Mike Pence.

“Obviously I’ve commented on this in public before, and obviously I will speak to both the president and the vice president about it when I arrive in Washington,” he said.

A total of 29 Government Ministers will travel to 27 countries to mark St Patrick's Day and engage in trade negotiations. Mr Kenny on Wednesday set out Ireland Connected, a new trade and investment strategy which runs until 2020.

The plan envisages a 26 per cent growth in indigenous exports over the next three years, along with an extra 30,000 jobs in the tourism sector and a 27 per cent increase in the number of overseas students studying in Ireland.

Reshuffle

Mr Kenny stood beside Minister for Transport Shane Ross during the announcement, who will remain in Ireland during the Ministers' exodus.

Mr Ross joked that he would order a Cabinet reshuffle while all other senior Ministers are out of the country. "John Halligan will move to health," he quipped.

The Taoiseach also addressed questions on the commission of inquiry into the handling of abuse allegations in the southeast healthcare region following on from reports on the ‘Grace’ case.

He reiterated the commitment from Minister of State with responsibility for Disabilities Finian McGrath to revise the terms of reference of the inquiry so that other potential victims can be included.

“I want to make this clear: the Government and Minister McGrath are quite open to having this commission of investigation deal with other cases,” he said, adding that the ‘Grace’ case will be dealt with “as a priority” first.

“As evidence comes in and new information becomes available the Government is quite willing and quite open that it be extended.”