Every year Irish leaders and politicians head over to Washington with a bowl of shamrock on St Patrick’s Day that is offered up to the US leader as a symbolic gesture of our long history.
A gift and a photo opportunity ensues that is relished by both sides. Dinners are held. Backs are slapped and business ties are deepened.
With Donald Trump in office and his executive orders causing havoc across the world it is time to call on our leaders and Enda Kenny in particular to pull out of this year’s visit.
To bin the bowl of shamrock and refuse to turn the White House a symbolic green for the day.
To see the damage that really can be done look no further than Theresa May…
Just a day after her own visit to cement that “special relationship” she saw one of her own MPs and Sir Mo Farah banned for having Iraqi and Somali ties. Her own reputation is taking a battering today in the UK press because of one simple visit.
Trump doesn’t care who he insults – Mexicans, refugees, women, the vulnerable and less-fortunate, and even the free media.
Why would we Irish be any different?
Some will say we’d be putting our American links in jeopardy or risking American jobs here… and that might be true but with the stakes so high and world order falling apart as the days go on a few jobs might be the very least of our worries.
So how do we stop Enda visiting the USA?
It won’t be easy but some simple steps will start to emerge over the coming days…
- Join marches to protest the visit
- Sign petitions like this one which has over 4,000 signatures
- Call and write to your local TD en masse
Enda Kenny must make a choice.
When the history books look back and record the upcoming events, they will either see a smiling Irish leader handing over a gift to a madman who went on to wreak untold havoc across the world, or they’ll read about the brave Irish leader who called bullshit and refused to travel.
It would be revolutionary.
The Mexican leader has already cancelled a meeting. The Canadians are starting to make a stand. And we just can’t afford to play the lapdog role to Trump here and need our own strong leadership.
Cancelling the trip will be a message that comes from the Irish people. A message that Enda Kenny simply can’t ignore and one that will then reverberate around the world.
This is an opinion piece – if you disagree with any of the views expressed let us know in the comments below.
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