The Taoiseach should boycott the White House following the “calculated insult and humiliation” of Donald Trump’s invitation to Conor McGregor last year, People Before Profit has argued.
In the run up to St Patrick’s Day 2025, Micheál Martin had a sit down with President Trump in the Oval Office, exchanged pleasantries and presented him with the traditional bowl of shamrocks.
The US President even promised not to "to do anything to hurt Ireland".
Following Mr Trump’s angry, public berating of President Zelensky just a few weeks previously, Irish diplomats breathed a huge sigh of relief.
However, on St Patrick’s Day itself, the Mr Trump shocked Dublin - and much of the world - by inviting Conor McGregor to the White House.
Conor McGregor meets with President Trump in the Oval Office! 🇮🇪🍀🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/xJB8ZauXAZ
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 17, 2025
The MMA fighter had just the previous year been found guilty in a civil court of assaulting Nikita Hand in a hotel room in 2018.
He conts attempts to appeal the conviction have so far been unsuccessful.
On The Pat Kenny Show, Richard Boyd Barrett said Ireland’s disagreements with Mr Trump are “not normal differences”.
“It is very much in our interests… to say we have to stand up to Trump and we shouldn't be whitewashing his crimes,” he argued.
“Because they are very much out of the normal run of things; he has armed and supported a genocidal massacre against the Palestinian people, he's now assembled a gang of dictators and war criminals to run Gaza that has been devastated.
“He's threatening a trade war, he has attacked a sovereign country, Venezuela, he has threatened Greenland.”
President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shake hands after reaching a trade deal at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland. Picture by: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin.The Dún Laoghaire TD added that the current administration is “executing” people on the streets of the United States and has no respect for the Irish Government either.
“Let's remember the calculated, deliberate insults to the Irish Taoiseach last year and to the entire country when he didn't invite the Irish Government,” he said.
“On Patrick's Day, he didn't actually have the Irish Taoiseach in the White House, he had Conor McGregor, who had recently been convicted [in a civil court of attacking] Nikita Hand.
“And that was a calculated insult and humiliation to the Irish Government.”
President Donald Trump. Picture by: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta.Also on the programme, Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne defended the decision of the Taoiseach to head to Washington in March.
“This is not about agreeing or endorsing any of Donald Trump's policies,” the Wicklow-Wexford TD said.
“And certainly I, and indeed the Taoiseach, would disagree with many of them.”
Instead, Deputy Byrne argued it is key to maintaining Ireland’s influence in Washington’s corridors of power.
“The visit to the White House and to the United States is more than about the shamrock ceremony,” he said.
“It's about a series of meetings that will be happening in Washington. DC, which will explore trade issues, ongoing support for the peace process, education and cultural links, meeting with some of the Irish diaspora.
“And Donald Trump is the democratically elected president of the United States.”
Main image: A split of Donald Trump with Micheál Martin and Conor McGregor. Pictures by: Alamy.com.
