The Taoiseach’s St Patrick’s Day visit to the White House has sparked anger and division among politicians who claim the trip would be an endorsement of his “horrendous, dangerous and racist agenda”, writes Elaine Loughlin.
The issue of whether Enda Kenny should hand over the bowl of shamrock to Donald Trump has been raised by TDs.
Both Labour and the AAA-PBP have said the Taoiseach should not travel for the annual meeting which was described as a “happy-clappy shamrockery event” by Labour leader Brendan Howlin.
But Fianna Fáil maintain that it is important that relations be maintained between both countries.
Labour leader Brendan Howlin, who tabled an urgent Dáil question on the issue of US pre-clearance at Irish airports, said President Trump’s actions since taking up office have been “very unsettling”.
The issue of pre-clearance was also discussed by cabinet this morning.
Mr Howlin said he had given the traditional St Patrick’s Day visit “a lot of consideration” but added that he felt it would not be right to travel as “a matter of principal”.
“It’s not business as usual. This is an administration now whose views on everything from climate change, his attitude to women, his views on disability, is fundamentally an anathema to the Irish people that we need to make a stand on that.
Describing it as a “happy-clappy shamrockery event that has no political content but has enormous emotional content” he said “it would be perceived by many as a formal endorsement of a policy position that would jar with the Irish people.”
But Mr Howlin added that if the visit was changed to a formal political meeting with a long press conference afterward he would not be opposed to the trip.
Meanwhile the AAA-PBP are completely opposed to the St Patrick’s Day visit to the White House.
Richard Boyd-Barrett said President Trump is “riding roughshod over the most basic tenants of human rights of international law on refugees and is basically putting two fingers up to human decency and that simply cannot stand.
“The Taoiseach of this country cannot in any way legitimise or endorse this horrendous, dangerous and racist agenda by handing a bowl of shamrock to President Trump on St Patrick’s Day.
“The only way to register a serious and effective protest over what Trump is doing and match words about concern with real action is to say that the Taoiseach will not meet Donald Trump in the White House on St Patrick’s Day,” he said.
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