Barack Obama has confirmed that the US will open talks with Europe to launch the world’s largest free trade zone.
He made the announcement during his State of the Nation address.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore has welcomed the announcement, saying it "opens up enormous untapped potential" to boost jobs and trade on both sides of the Atlantic.
During the speech, Obama also promised to focus on domestic priorities in the Sates by pledging to narrow inequality, re-ignite the economy, fight gun crime and fix immigration.
The President was at his most passionate when he made the case for measures to stem gun violence, following the massacre of 20 children at a Connecticut elementary school in December: