Sinn Fein defends boycott of US visit for St Patrickâs Day events amid criticism
Irish deputy premier Simon Harris said the partyâ??s decision would not help any Palestinians.
Sinn Fein has defended its decision to boycott Washington DC for St Patrickâs Day amid criticism from political opponents across the island of Ireland.
The partyâs leadership, which normally travels to the US to mark the occasion every year, said it would not participate as part of âa principled stance against the threat of mass expulsion of the Palestinian people from Gazaâ.
Sinn Feinâs president Mary Lou McDonald and Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle OâNeill, the partyâs vice president, made the announcement on Friday.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump suggested Israel would turn Gaza over to the US for redevelopment into the âRiviera of the Middle Eastâ- involving a mass displacement of Palestinians from the territory.
The proposals were widely condemned and later comments from the administration sought to suggest the displacement would be voluntary and temporary.
Speaking on Friday, Ms McDonald said: âI followed with growing concern whatâs happening on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank and, like many other Irish people, have listened in horror to calls from the president of the United States for the mass expulsion of the Palestinian people from their homes and the permanent seizure of Palestinian lands.â
Then-taoiseach Leo Varadkar and then-US president Joe Biden during the St Patrickâs Day reception last year (Niall Carson/PA)
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She added: âIâve made the decision not to attend the event in the White House this year as a principled stance against the call for the mass expulsion of the Palestinian people from Gaza, something which I believe demands serious dissent and objection.â
Ms OâNeill said she recognises the positive impact that the US has had on the island of Ireland, including the Northern Ireland peace process.
However, she said she was standing âon the side of humanityâ by not travelling to the White House.
Northern Irelandâs First Minister and Sinn Fein vice president Michelle OâNeill (Gareth Chaney/PA)
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Speaking at the press conference in Dublin, the First Minister said: âWe are all heartbroken whenever we witness the suffering of the Palestinian people, and the recent comments by the US president around the mass expulsion of the Palestinian people from Gaza is just simply something that I cannot ignore.â
A senior representative of Irelandâs Government has said the boycott will not âhelp anybody in Palestineâ while the DUP branded the boycott as ârecklessâ.
Irish premier Micheal Martin has yet to receive a formal invitation to a bilateral meeting with Mr Trump at the White House, but the Taoiseach has said he expects the meeting to go ahead.
Ms McDonald insisted that the party was not making any call for the Taoiseach not to attend a bilateral with Mr Trump, instead saying it was important that he uses the opportunity to speak for the people of Ireland and reflect their support for Palestinians.
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and Northern Irelandâs First Minister, Sinn Fein vice president Michelle OâNeill, at a press conference in Dublin (Gareth Chaney/PA)
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She said it would be âunforgivableâ if Mr Martin did not ask the US president to withdraw his remarks about Gaza.
Ms McDonald added: âI would ask him to reflect the true spirit of Irish people at home and abroad, for justice, for fairness, for freedom, and to articulate that in the clearest possible terms.â
She later said that if she had been elected taoiseach, she would have taken the opportunity to go to the White House.
However, Mr Martin accused Sinn Fein of âengaging in politicsâ over its boycott.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin said he expects to have a meeting with US President Donald Trump (Brian Lawless/PA)
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He said there was a need to continue engagement with the US administration to protect jobs in Ireland as well as trade between the two countries, adding: âIt is very important because, first of all, the economic relationship between Europe and the US and between Ireland and the US is an extremely important one, very robust one.â
The Taoiseach said it was also important to keep engagement with the US to offer Irelandâs perspective on the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Mr Martin said: âWe need a consolidation of the ceasefire, we need a massive surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and we need to create a political pathway to a two-state solution.â
US President Donald Trump with a bowl of shamrock, presented by then-taoiseach Leo Varadkar, in 2019 (Brian Lawless/PA)
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Ms McDonald rejected assertions that her partyâs stance would undermine Irelandâs efforts to protect its economic interests in the face of potential new US tariff and tax policies.
She said the party was aware that âIrish jobs and Irish interests need to be protectedâ but added that Irish political leaders need to state âfirm oppositionâ to the policy of the US administration.
Sinn Fein was also challenged on how it believed it was right for the Taoiseach, as Irelandâs head of government, to go to the White House while Ms OâNeill, as joint leader of Northern Irelandâs devolved government, should boycott the St Patrickâs Day events.
It highlighted that the Taoiseachâs engagement with Mr Trump was âdistinctâ and âuniqueâ, as he would have a bilateral political meeting with the president â something the Stormont First Minister would not have.
Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle OâNeill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly in Washington DC last year (Niall Carson/PA)
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âThe Taoiseach is uniquely placed in this scenario,â said Ms OâNeill.
âHe will have an opportunity to sit down with the president of the United States and to make his views known.
âSo I think that it is right, as Mary Lou has said, it is absolutely right that the Taoiseach goes and he doesnât miss that opportunity.â
DUP leader Gavin Robinson said the decision âspeaks volumesâ about where Northern Ireland sits on Sinn Feinâs list of priorities.
Mr Robinson questioned how Ms OâNeillâs decision to stay away from the US capital matched with her oft-repeated pledge to be a âfirst minister for allâ.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson said his party would be represented (Brian Lawless/PA)
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He said the party would be represented in Washington DC in March.
Mr Robinson added: âThe United States is a key economic partner for Northern Ireland.
âTurning away from that relationship, particularly at a time when we need continued international support, is a reckless move that does nothing to advance the interests of people and businesses in Northern Ireland.â
The boycott comes in stark contrast to last year when Ms OâNeill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, of the DUP, were lauded in Washington as they travelled together to attend St Patrickâs Day events only weeks after the powersharing institutions at Stormont were restored.
Ms OâNeill said she had informed Ms Little-Pengelly of her decision before the announcement.
Tanaiste Simon Harris said âItâs always easier to just not show up, isnât it?â (Brian Lawless/PA)
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She said: âI will respect Emmaâs view, and she will have to decide and speak for herself in terms of what action she might take and whether or not she will attend the White House.â
The Sinn Fein press conference coincided with a social media post announcing the partyâs position.
In response, Irish deputy premier Simon Harris said that posting a video on X âdoes not help anybody in Palestineâ.
He told reporters: âItâs always easier to just not show up, isnât it?
âWhatâs actually much more productive is to show up, work hard, and actually engage with people on complex and important issues.â
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