Inside the €76k flight bill for Taoiseach's St Patrick's Day trip to the US
Taxpayers spent over €76,000 on flights for Taoiseach Micheál Martin, his wife and eight other members of staff as part of St Patrick's Day celebrations, the Irish Mirror can reveal.
This does not include money spent on accommodation on the six-day trip to the United States, which included stops in Texas and Washington DC.
The Taoiseach's itinerary included the key meeting with US President Donald Trump in the White House on Wednesday, March 12.
The Foreign Travel Report for February, published by the Department of the Taoiseach, stated that 'flights for Taoiseach and delegation from Dublin to Austin return for St Patrick's Day, 09/03/2025 to 14/03/2025' cost a total of €64,629.71.
In response to queries from the Irish Mirror, the Government press office confirmed that an additional €11,780 was paid in March.
It brings the total price of flights for the Taoiseach's St Patrick's Day trip to the US to €76,409.71.
The press office confirmed that there were 10 people travelling to the US as part of the Taoiseach's trip Stateside.
This included the Taoiseach, his wife Mary, the Secretary General John Callinan, Chief of Staff Deirdre Gillane, Government Press Secretary Paul Clarkson, the Assistant Secretary, Principal Officer, the Private Secretary to the Taoiseach and two Garda Close Protection Officers.
The Government press office further confirmed that the overall cost of the flights included the cost of Mr Martin's wife's flights.
For the transatlantic flights – from Dublin to Austin and Washington DC to Dublin – four of the delegation flew business class on the outbound leg and two of the delegation flew business class on the inbound leg.
No information was provided about who flew business class, but the Irish Mirror understands that Mr Martin did.
GIS confirmed to the Irish Mirror that 'no accommodation costs have been incurred to date' by the Department of the Taoiseach for this trip.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade organised and paid for accommodation, which will be recouped later.
The October Foreign Travel Report shows that flights for then-Taoiseach Simon Harris and his delegation's visit to Washington to meet then-President Joe Biden cost €14,743.61
Mr Martin flew to Austin, Texas, on Sunday March 9. On Monday, he attended the SXSW festival and met with the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott. He also attended a reception at the Consulate of Ireland in Austin.
The Taoiseach and his team spent two nights in Texas before flying to Washington DC on Tuesday March 11.
After arriving in the US capital that afternoon, Mr Martin attended the annual Embassy of Ireland St. Patrick's Day Reception on Tuesday evening.
On Wednesday, the Taoiseach had a full day of political engagements, during which he met President Trump and US Vice President JD Vance and attended a lunch on Capitol Hill held by Speaker Mike Johnson.
Thursday consisted of meetings with business groups and IDA client companies ahead of the Ireland Funds National Gala in the evening.
On Friday, Mr Martin held further business meetings before a meeting with high-level representatives of the US Jewish community.
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