A White House advisor is confident Donald Trump will visit Ireland sooner rather than later.

There's still some confusion over November's planned trip, following widespread reports yesterday that it has been cancelled.

The US President was due to come here as part of a visit to Europe for World War 1 commemorations.

The Government here said the Irish visit will not go ahead in November, suggesting it was postponed because of scheduling issues.

However, the White House has not cleared up if it has been officially cancelled.

Press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters yesterday that details of the Europe trip were still being finalised.

However, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, Kevin Hassett, is confident than an Irish trip by the US President will happen soon - although stressed he wasn't aware of the current status of the planned trip.

Speaking to Ivan Yates on The Hard Shoulder, Mr Hassett observed: "The President was really excited about his trip to Ireland, and he was very much looking forward to it - as was much of the team. I thought the level of enthusiasm was palpable.

"To the extent that this trip, should it be delayed... that's the way you should think of it - it's delayed, it's not cancelled. There's a very high level of enthusiasm for it."

Yesterday's news came only weeks after the 'brief visit' was announced, with the Government here having admitted the announcement had come as a surprise.

A number of political parties - including Labour, the Green Party and People Before Profit - had called for mass protests to coincide with the US President's planned visit.