Politics

Taoiseach says he will travel to Washington for St Patrick’s Day ‘if invited’

Micheál Martin says he expects he would have to be vaccinated but stresses invite has not been received

Taoiseach Micheal Martin said he expected that if he is to go to the US he will have to be vaccinated. File photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Vivienne Clarke
Thu Feb 11 2021 - 12:12

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that if he is invited to the White House to mark St Patrick’s Day, he will attend.

“If I am invited, I will go,” he told RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland.

But an invitation had not yet been received from US president Joe Biden’s office, he added.

Mr Martin said he expected that if he is to go he will have to be vaccinated. He said he was bemused by the debate about whether he would go, but he was relaxed about the issue.

READ MORE

If an event takes place in or around March 17th, Mr Martin would need to vaccinated soon to ensure he was protected against Covid-19.

He said St Patrick’s Day would be marked in Washington DC in “some shape or form” as it was an opportunity to develop new areas of cooperation with the US, such as helping developing countries.

The Taoiseach said he was pleased with Mr Biden’s initiatives to date and was confident that Ireland would continue to have a good relationship with the US.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney last week said he believes Mr Martin should to go to Washington DC for the traditional St Patrick’s Day meeting in the White House.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said the question of whether or not the annual meeting should go ahead is “above my pay grade now”.

Meanwhile, Solidarity-People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith has called on the Taoiseach to decline if the invitation is received.

The Taoiseach should say thank you for the invitation, but say he cannot go as there were other people who should have the vaccine before him, she said.

Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show, Ms Smith denied an accusation by former Fianna Fáil ministerial adviser Derek Mooney that such a response by the Taoiseach would be an “empty gesture.”

Ms Smith also said that members of the Cabinet should not be vaccinated ahead of vulnerable people and frontline workers.

LATEST STORIES