Veteran Irish Post commentator PETER KELLY reports from inside the White House after an eventful St Patrick's week
Peter Kelly with Irish Senate leader Mark Daly (left), Congressman Brendan Boyle and Irish TD Cormac Devlin in PhiladelphiaEVERY mid-March, Ireland’s political leaders board flights to Washington with a familiar blend of excitement, pride and now apprehension.
The annual St Patrick’s exodus to the White House has long served as a showcase of Irish soft-power diplomacy.
But under Donald Trump the tradition has become precarious. More a high-wire act to avoid a single misstep which can turn a courtesy call into a full blown diplomatic crisis.
I watched at close quarters this week as Taoiseach Micheál Martin again managed to navigate the tightrope without incident.
Beginning his visit in Philadelphia, he celebrated the Irish diaspora story as he walked the historic parade route. Irish-American Congressman Brendan Boyle, invoking the Donegal heritage of his father, repeated a line often attributed to Lord Mountjoy from the War of Independence that Britain had “lost America because of the Irish”.
Boyle now reframes it as a point of pride.
A warm, nostalgic opening, yes. But nostalgia alone won't survive the transition from Philly parade route camaraderie to a testy Oval Office encounter.
Meeting Trump is never a simple diplomatic engagement; it is an audition before an unpredictable audience. Martin had watched others, from the Ukrainian leader to Keir Starmer, endure public scolding or ridicule. So Ireland's leader arrived prepared to absorb blows, deflect provocations, and keep the conversation on track.
Martin repeatedly attempted to steer the conversation back to shared values, emphasising that the Irish-American relationship is foundational and historic. He even defended the UK Prime Minister, with the Cork man gently countering Trump, praising Starmer for resetting Irish-British relations and describing him as earnest and sound.
It was diplomacy by footwork – acknowledge, deflect, and reframe. It seemed to work, with no rebuke from the US president, and at several points, Martin was rewarded with repeated cordial taps on the shoulder and knee from Trump.
Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill and Mary Lou McDonald continued to boycott the celebrations in protest of US policy in Gaza, calling the visit a “missed opportunity” to challenge American power.
Meanwhile, Stormont's Deputy First Minister continues to flip unionism's historic practice on its head by insisting that Oval Office access is too valuable to forgo, as I watched her bask in unlikely US limelight for a second year running.
And in a broadside at Sinn Féin, Little-Pengelly mischievously quipped that those politicians who usually insist "they’re the most Irish” were nowhere to be seen this year, and instead unionists had turned out in force.
Cue cheers and jeers from her DUP delegation that were pointed and triumphalist.
Earlier in March, in what has become Irish-American heritage month, former deputy UUP leader John Taylor did a similar but different backflip, dramatically warning of the inevitability of a united Ireland.
And so we continue to live in an Alice-in-Wonderland existence, where the superpower that was originally charmed and cajoled by John Hume to assist peacebuilding and moderate nationalism in Ulster is now being wooed by loyalism, which has aggressively shunned it for decades.
Yet one positive emerges after an unprecedentedly intense and perplexing week in Washington. That despite the contradictions and perhaps one-upmanship of certain parties vying to feature on the global US radar for the sake of Northern Ireland, Ireland's two jurisdictions remain front and centre on the American psyche on St Patrick's week. And therefore both continue to command attention, impact and influence spectacularly beyond their size.
When the boycotting traditional parties return, as they will, that transatlantic consciousness, strategic concern and enthusiasm from the world's political epicentre in Washington and beyond will only grow stronger and more affectionate. Bring it on!
The Irish Post's Peter Kelly in WashingtonEverything from irishpost.com and the print edition is available on the Irish Post App — plus more! Download it for Android or Apple IOS devices today.
