DUBLIN (REUTERS) - Ireland's prime minister said on Friday (June 10) he is open to meeting Donald Trump, who is due to visit Ireland this month, but he would use the opportunity to tell the presumptive Republican US presidential nominee that his views are racist.
Enda Kenny told the Irish parliament last week that he believed Trump had made "racist and dangerous" comments during his campaign to secure the Republican nomination and later said there were no plans in place to meet him.
Pressed by reporters on Friday, Kenny said "I would have no difficulty in meeting Donald Trump" although he had not been contacted about a meeting yet.
Asked if he would use a meeting to explain why he thought Trump's comments were racist, Kenny said: "Certainly. I would be very happy to." Trump announced last week he would to visit his golf course in Doonbeg on Ireland's west coast during a trip to Scotland and Ireland on June 22-25.
Trump last year angered many on both sides of the Atlantic by proposing a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States as a response to Islamist attacks in Paris and California. His comments about stopping Mexican migrants entering the United States also caused offence.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has described comments made by Trump as "divisive, stupid and wrong".
