IRELAND’S deputy premier has said US president Donald Trump’s visit to the country is certain to cause controversy.

Simon Coveney said the Irish Government was “a little taken by surprise” when Trump made the announcement he was going to visit Ireland in November.

The US leader is expected to visit the country after he attends the Armistice Day commemoration in Paris.

Coveney said: “It will be controversial because everything Donald Trump does these days is controversial.”

The Tanaiste added that the fact the government was facilitating the visit did not mean it was endorsing US policies.

“We don’t agree with Donald Trump in terms of his approach to climate change, we don’t agree with his approach on migration, we don’t agree with his approach in terms of international trade and the imposition of tariffs,” he said.

Coveney also said he did not agree with former premier Enda Kenny’s description of Trump as a racist.

“I don’t say he’s a racist, but as I’ve said before I disagree with many of the policies that he advocates,” Coveney said.

Speaking at the Fine Gael parliamentary party’s think-in event in County Galway on Friday, the deputy premier said the negotiations on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU had intensified in recent weeks.

He said: “When Michel Barnier talks about the ticking clock, and a lot of work to do, and not much time to do it in, you know, it’s not a bluff.

“He means it.”

Coveney added that he was more confident about the negotiations than he had been prior to the summer break.

“The engagement is now much more serious, much more business-like,” Coveney said.

“Both sides I think are determined to deliver an outcome, because no agreement and a potential for a no-deal Brexit is an outcome where everybody loses – in particular the UK and Ireland, but the EU as well.”