Martin faces complex Trump meeting, Sinn Féin criticised over White House claim

James Cox

Here, we have a look at the issues likely to dominate political discourse in the week to come.

St Patrick's Day looms large for Taoiseach

March 17th is still a while away but Taoiseach Micheál Martin will undoubtedly be strategising about his visit to the White House.

He is all but certain to take a non-confrontational approach with US president Donald Trump. However, this will be difficult with topics like Gaza, ICE, and tariffs.

Martin will likely try to emphasise the importance of the Irish-American relationship, particularly with regards to business, but if Trump decides to challenge him on US businesses in Ireland this could prove difficult.

Fianna Fáil will undoubtedly be aware of the Business Post poll/Red C poll which found a majority (55 per cent) of respondents believe Martin should challenge Trump on “American policies that don’t align with Irish values”.

Some 63 per cent of Fianna Fail voters said they would support the move.

Sinn Féin stance

Sinn Féin were out quickly to say they would not be attending the White House events.

Party leader Mary Lou McDonald cited Gaza as a key reason.

“It is important that the eyes of the international community remain focused on what is happening in Palestine and it is important that Sinn Féin uses its voice to demand that international law is upheld and peace and justice prevail,” she said.

However, it has since transpired that Sinn Féin received no invitation.

In a statement issued to The Irish Times in response to questions, the US ambassador to Ireland Edward Walsh said that “no members of Sinn Féin have been invited to the White House, and none are expected to be invited”.

“Announcing a boycott of an event for which invitations have neither been extended nor finalised is premature,” said the ambassador.

McDonald defends Sinn Féin stance on €90 billion Ukraine loan

Sinn Féin has also come under criticism for voting against a €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine.

Minister of State Neale Richmond has accused Sinn Féin of "abandoning Ukraine" after its MEPs voted against a €90 billion loan to the country amid the ongoing Russian war.

The loan involved €30 billion of financial support and €60 billion for military equipment.

Sinn Féin MEPs Kathleen Funchion and Lynn Boylan voted against the measure, which was passed by the European Parliament, arguing that it undermined Ireland's neutrality.

In heated Dáil exchanges, Donegal TD Pearse Doherty also argued the money should be spent elsewhere.

In an interview with BreakingNews.ie, Neale Richmond said: "It wasn’t too long ago that I stood outside the Russian embassy with Sinn Féin representatives opposed to Russia’s brutal full scale invasion of Ukraine, the same party made a series of speeches in solidarity and demanded more action from the Government here, the Sinn Féin leader was happy to pose with the visiting Ukrainian President weeks ago and pledge her support."

McDonald has defended the move.

In an interview with RTÉ, she said her party stands “in solidarity with Ukraine against Putin” and his “illegal invasion” but that “spending tens of billions more of taxpayers’ money on more and more weaponry is not the way to resolve this conflict ... The full international effort has to be around diplomacy, peacemaking". 

Abroad

Searches are continuing at Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s previous home as the UK government did not rule out a judge-led inquiry into the former prince’s links with paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein following police investigations.