Donald Trump has sparked some major fear and loathing in Leinster House.

The loathing is the easy bit, with the new US president compared to Hitler, described as a fascist, and in a more collegial moment called an eejit. Politician after politician has found a more colourful way of showing just how outraged they are at the supposed leader of the free world.

There is rare consensus on the issue - to the point whereby everybody is trying to agree an all-party motion condemning the travel ban imposed on seven countries.

But nobody is quite sure what to do about the fear.

It's not clear those who have called on Taoiseach Enda Kenny to snub 'The Donald' on St Patrick's Day have actually considered the consequences.

At best, it would be a one-day news story where Mr Kenny might, depending on what else is happening, garner some global headlines.

It's likely the Taoiseach might enjoy the notoriety, but would those calling for the boycott be willing to stand firmly behind him if Mr Trump flew off the handle?

When Mr Trump starts tweeting about how Mr Kenny is "weak, very weak" and says his attempt at making a point is "sad", will the Labour Party and AAA-PBP describe the Fine Gael leader as strong and statesmanlike?

It would certainly be a new world order if they did.

This week's Cabinet meeting heard all about the benefits of our 'special relationship' with the United States: easy visas, pre-clearance at the airport, multinational jobs and, of course, the access to the White House. Ministers mostly mused on the danger posed to the 50,000 Irish citizens living illegally in the US. The view was that Mr Trump could "just start rounding them up" if the Government strayed too far from normal diplomatic protocol.

Shane Ross was the only dissenting voice, making the argument that we can't align ourselves to a man who endorses torture.

He echoed the words of a letter his wife, Ruth Buchanan, wrote to the 'Irish Times', calling for the shamrock ceremony to be cancelled lest we "honour" a man not worthy of our respect.

Notably, Ms Buchanan obviously has more faith in our President than our Taoiseach, as she concluded: "Instead we could issue an invitation to Mr Trump to meet our President, Michael D Higgins. A visit to Áras an Uachtaráin could see him dispatched with a flea in his ear."

Mr Ross's argument is not to be dismissed, though. It was a valuable contribution to the discussion, even if his colleagues concluded the situation isn't as black and white.

It's worth pointing out, though, that Mr Ross's preferred form of protest was to skip the White House and not withdraw support for pre-clearance facilities which largely fall under his remit.

Some other TDs were spreading fear of a different kind, warning that if the Government doesn't start fixing the country we could have our own Trump here.

"This is why the Americans elected an eejit called Trump, because they were tired of being lied to by the likes of Obama, Clinton and Bush.

"They will get tired of the Government lying to them too," Mick Wallace warned.

Mattie McGrath reckoned Mr Trump was following through on his election promises, unlike members of government.

"People are sick of that and will not put up with it any longer," he shouted.

Maybe we should all be afraid, very afraid.

Irish Independent