Taoiseach faces mass backlash over plan to meet Donald Trump for St Patrick’s Day

Should the Taoiseach boycott Trump's invitation to the States?

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has confirmed he will travel to the White House this St Patrick's Day after accepting a formal invitation from Donald Trump.

Activists and opposition TDs are calling on Martin to reconsider his approach, citing mentions of Trump in the recently released Epstein files.

Activist group ROSA hand-delivered a letter to the Taoiseach's office this week, accompanied by excerpts from the files. In a video documenting the delivery, a spokesperson stated: "We're really hoping that he's going to read these files and reconsider his approach on St. Patrick's Day.”

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns believes the Taoiseach should go, but use Ireland's "unique platform" to deliver a clear message. "We do not bow down to bullies," she said, arguing that given the current climate, the visit matters more than ever.

Socialist Party TD Paul Murphy stressed that the Taoiseach should boycott the visit entirely.

"I think the clearest, loudest, strongest thing that the Taoiseach could do is to boycott the visit to the White House to say to the world that we're not going to be meeting this monster who is bullying the entire world, who is bullying and even supporting the murder of his own people by ICE.”

The Epstein files contain hundreds of references to Trump, including a 2020 prosecutor's email stating that flight records showed Trump travelled on Epstein's private jet at least eight times between 1993 and 1996, a number of those flights with convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell also on board.

Trump and Epstein were close friends until the early 2000s, bonding (by the NYT's own description) over their shared pursuit of young women. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said there are "five to six" cases of Irish citizens detained by ICE. Seamus Culleton, originally from Glenmore in Co Kilkenny, was picked up by ICE agents last September and taken to a detention centre in Texas, almost 4,000km away from his home in Boston.

Do you think the Taoiseach should boycott the visit?