ST PATRICK’S season is almost upon us.
The trans-Atlantic calendar kicks into gear, and Ireland prepares for its annual global moment. Plans for the coveted March exodus from Ireland’s leaders are already in full swing.
Although many a Taoiseach, their team and engaged advocates have been welcomed into the White House since 1952 for the presentation of the Shamrock, Irish influence and impact have since widened in recent years. Ireland’s unlikely but growing cordial footprint can undoubtedly be found beside the upholstery inside ‘The Oval’.
What began in the 1970s with eventual Nobel Laureate John Hume lassoing the soft power of Irish-America through Ted Kennedy and Speaker Tip O’Neill has now developed into a full-blown engagement worth its weight in political, cultural and economic capital, equal to each of those transatlantic air-miles spent en route.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris will join 38 Irish representatives touching down in more than 90 cities across 40 countries. A highly yielding whirlwind. A week when Ireland traditionally enjoys access that most nations only envy. Global green eyes indeed are activated.
And yet, for the second year running, Sinn Féin will be nowhere near the White House.
Their boycott again comes wrapped in the language of principle. Gaza. Ceasefire. International law. Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O’Neill insist Ireland must send a “clear and strong message”. Fair enough. But here’s the unavoidable question: what message is sent by not showing up at all?
Politics is about persuasion, influence and presence. It is not performed from the sidelines. It is not advanced by empty chairs. There is no such thing as ‘out-fluence’, as the saying goes.
Last year, when asked about Sinn Féin’s boycott, the US President admitted to an Ulster TV reporter he didn’t even know it had happened. That single moment exposed the entire flawed gesture. A protest unheard is a protest wasted. All the noise at home, and it didn’t even flicker on the radar at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Meanwhile, the wider political fraternity in the U.S., warmly and habitually pro-Irish, historically sympathetic and culturally intertwined, remains open for business. Add the vast Irish-American diaspora from New York to Boston to Chicago and beyond, and the opportunity becomes glaring. Not pushing against those open doors is more than a misstep. It is a self-inflicted wound for a party and movement that historically has shown that Irish-American engagement is part of its DNA.
And let’s not forget the economics. The trans-Atlantic relationship is valued at over €1 trillion annually. That is not a figure to play fast and loose with. That is not a relationship to treat lightly, or receipts to squander.
In accepting the White House invitation, and having aced last year’s encounter, Micheál Martin noted the US President’s tribute to the Irish-American community and the “special relationship” between the two nations. A relationship built on engagement and on showing up. On understanding that access, once lost, is not easily regained.
We are past the halcyon days of the Oval Office-directed Northern Ireland peace process. We may no longer have US Presidents who wear their Irishness on their sleeve, their suits and their national identities. But in this era of global uncertainty, one constant remains: Ireland still enjoys exceptional camaraderie and access in Washington.
When unlikely and coveted opportunity comes knocking, it’s unwise to spurn an open door.
See More: Ireland, St Patrick's Day, US
