Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan has defended Micheál Martin’s conduct in the Oval Office after People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett claimed the Taoiseach failed to utter “a single word of criticism of the flagrant, murderous breaches of international law” to US President Donald Trump.
Deputy Boyd Barrett said “every single working person in this country” is paying a “direct economic price” for the war in Iran, adding that Israel is “in the dock for genocide”, reports RTE.
Mr Boyd Barrett said the conflict in Iran has resulted in the deaths of more than 3,000 innocent Iranians, including around 160 schoolgirls.
He said there are “real fears, we are going to see a repeat of the genocidal horrors that we have seen in Gaza”, reports RTE.
In response, Minister O’Callaghan said: “What the Taoiseach did yesterday in the White House was extremely important for Ireland’s and Europe’s point of view”, reports RTE.
He said the Taoiseach “has to deal with the circumstances with which he is faced”.
“Obviously, if you were Taoiseach, you wouldn’t have gone to the United States,” he said, reports RTE.
He said there was a “real benefit” to the St Patrick’s Day meeting.
“He was able to speak out in respect of Keir Starmer, he was able to speak out in respect of immigration, and he was able to speak out in respect of Ireland’s view is that we should resolve disputes through pacific methods,” said Mr O’Callaghan, reports RTE.
He said Ireland is a small, “non-military” country with a “strong voice”. He added that discussions also took place away from the cameras.
Labour Leader Ivana Bacik welcomed Mr Martin’s defence of Europe’s immigration policies during the Oval Office meeting and called for a more positive narrative around migration in Ireland, reports RTE.
She said there has been misuse of the national flag and the use of “hostile language” in discussions about immigration.
In response, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan said the Taoiseach did “an excellent job” in “extremely challenging circumstances”, reports RTE.
Mr Boyd Barrett also said he would not stand beside a “warmonger like Donald Trump who he said is ripping up the international legal rulebook to pursue a bloody and murderous war against Iran”.
“Our Taoiseach can’t even bring himself to actually condemn this, even when it is imposing an economic cost on every single person in this country and across the world,” he said, reports RTE.
He said on 15 March, four US carriers “went through Shannon in just one day”.
“Are you telling me they are not involved in the bloody carnage that Trump and the Israelis are inflicting on the Middle East,” he asked, reports RTE.
Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty said the Taoiseach failed to reflect the values of the Irish people during the White House meeting, particularly by not describing US actions in the Middle East as illegal.
Green Party TD Roderic O’Gorman said the Taoiseach’s visit should not be viewed as a diplomatic success, reports RTE.
“I was particularly struck by the comments of the Taoiseach that Donald Trump is doing his bit for peace in the Middle East.
“Donald Trump has initiated an illegal war on Iran,” Mr O’Gorman said, reports RTE.
“He has supported a genocide in Gaza.
“Donald Trump has generated the economic chaos that we are all experiencing now.
“Donald Trump has not done his bit for peace in the Middle East
“He is the driver of division, of chaos and of death within the Middle East,”, reports RTE.
People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger said the Taoiseach “managed to say absolutely nothing” about the attack on a school in Iran at the beginning of the war during his meeting with Mr Trump.
She described this as “extremely embarrassing for the leader of a neutral country”, reports RTE.
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Ms Coppinger also said Mr Martin did not correct US President Donald Trump when he misgendered President Catherine Connolly.
“He wanted that to be just ignored,” she said, reports RTE.
“We have to question why this ritual goes on every year,” she said.
PBP-Solidarity TD Richard Boyd Barrett said Mr Martin did not show an “ounce of solidarity” with the “victims of Trump’s war while he boasts about these criminal, immoral and murderous actions”, reports RTE.
He described the situation as “truly shameful”.
Meanwhile, a former Irish ambassador to the US said the Taoiseach left his Oval Office meeting with Mr Trump “without any bruises”.
Dan Mulhall, who served as ambassador from 2017 to 2022, said the St Patrick’s Day engagement allowed Mr Martin to navigate potential pitfalls, reports RTE.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr Mulhall said Ireland’s primary interest with the US is economic.
“We don’t want to see the economic ties we have to the United States damaged because of the attitudes of the Trump administration.
“I think the Taoiseach served that purpose well yesterday,” Mr Mulhall said, reports RTE.
“And in fact, Marco Rubio made a really kind of extraordinary statement.
“It could have almost been written by us about lauding the economic ties between the US and highlighting the number of Americans who are employed by Irish companies.
“So, I think overall you could say we got through a difficult day on a difficult course and the Taoiseach came home fairly well without any bruises on his body,”, reports RTE.
Regarding the Taoiseach’s decision not to label the US-Israeli war on Iran as illegal, Mr Mulhall said that doing so is “easier said than done”.
“Look, this is a reality TV show that Donald Trump has created in the Oval Office. It’s quite extraordinary compared with past traditions of these kind of meetings,”, reports RTE.
Mr Mulhall said any leader meeting Mr Trump effectively plays the role of an “extra”, adding that the Taoiseach managed to challenge the US president on a few points.
“But the fact is that Donald Trump is the producer, the director, and the main actor.
“And no matter who comes into the Oval Office – Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz – they’re all extras in the show.
“And all of them have the same aim, which is to make sure that they play as big a role as they possibly can as extras, but recognising that there’s no way of ever outplaying Donald Trump on his home turf in the Oval Office.
“And it’s a question of getting out of there, making as many points as you can make.
“Every leader who’s gone in there in the last year has suffered the same fate of having to listen to Donald Trump, going on and on and on about things.
“And you can only fact-check him a couple of times and the Taoiseach did that. If you do any more than that, then it becomes a confrontation and that doesn’t end well for any leader, including the Taoiseach,”, reports RTE.
Mr Mulhall said the Taoiseach successfully conveyed to the US the importance of economic ties for both countries.
He added that the Taoiseach’s defence of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was “a good thing to do”, reports RTE.
During the meeting, the Taoiseach said Mr Starmer had made significant efforts to improve Irish-British relations and described him as an earnest and reliable figure whom he believed Mr Trump could work with.
Mr Mulhall said European leaders would recognise that the Taoiseach made a strong effort to defend Europe in a difficult setting, reports RTE.
“And I think he’ll get some kudos from that as well. And that’s no harm for us either,” Mr Mulhall said.
“So I think overall, I think he comes out of it pretty well.
“And I think he did enough to be able to hold his head up high and say, ‘I tried my best to push back against Donald Trump in that very difficult environment’.
“I mean, I’m sure every European leader was going, ‘oh my goodness, I’m glad I wasn’t there’.
“Because the one thing that saved the Taoiseach was that we’re not members of NATO.
“Neutrality was really a big plus card yesterday because he couldn’t really attack us on that basis because we’re not members of NATO,”, reports RTE.
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