Obama invites Kenny to White House

US president Barack Obama has personally invited new Taoiseach Enda Kenny to the White House for the St Patrick's Day celebrations.

Mr Obama placed a seven-minute planned telephone call to Mr Kenny and congratulated him on his election victory, a Government spokesman said.

Mr Kenny was in Brussels attending his first summit of EU heads of state since taking office, with Libya and the Eurozone crisis dominating proceedings.

He told the president that he was in Denver for his acceptance of the Democratic nomination in 2008, as well as reminding him of the standing invitation to visit Ireland.

President Obama spoke of the amount of Irish people on his White House staff.

The Fine Gael leader is due to hold meetings with senior figures from both the administration and Congress during his Washington DC visit, including vice-president Joe Biden and House speaker John Boehner.

The Taoiseach yesterday announced a scaled-down exodus of Cabinet members overseas for St Patrick's Day celebrations, with nine travelling abroad to France, Italy, the UK, Germany, US, India, New Zealand and Australia.

During the Fianna Fáil-led administration last year, 22 Government representatives travelled to 24 countries.

The Taoiseach said building Ireland's reputation abroad was one of the key objectives of the coalition's first 100 days in office, with the visits being used to promote Ireland as a trading and business hub.

"We will do this effectively, but in a way that ensures value for money," he said.