How do you survive an encounter with a shark? Don’t move. Stay very still. Maintain eye contact and do not try to swim away.
Our blanket coverage this morning of Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s successful escape, completely unscathed, from the high-pressure shark tank that is US president Donald Trump’s Oval Office is reminiscent of the advice for evading attack from one of nature’s most volatile predators. For the overwhelming majority of the Taoiseach’s 40 minutes on the periphery of Trump’s vision, the Irish politician maintained a wise silence.
Because the periphery was exactly where Ireland wanted to safely remain. The St Patrick’s Day visit had clashed with the bellicose president’s transatlantic row with a number of European nations. To the US administration’s chagrin, countries such as France, the UK, Germany and Poland have loudly declined to participate in a war that America started (the same one that America is claiming it has already won).
According to the elastic rhetoric of the White House, Operation Epic Fury only needs to tie up a couple of loose ends – like neutering Iran’s nuclear capabilities (the same nuclear capability that the same White House claimed to have already “completely and totally obliterated”).
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Oh, and there’s the small matter of reopening the Strait of Hormuz – the international choke point for 20 per cent of the world’s oil that is about as wide as the drive from Drogheda to Dundalk, which ships can pass through only after sailing past 3,000km of Iranian coastline and all of the coves and caves with unknown quantities of lethal drones hiding within. (That’s the same Strait of Hormuz that American politicians have been trying to claim was actually never closed in the first place.)
Add to that the small matter of a senior US counterterrorism official resigning in protest at the US war on Iran, and the same-day announcement that Israel had killed Ali Larijani – one of the most prominent members of Iran’s regime – and there was every chance that Trump would be in treacherous form.
Trump’s ire for European countries that were refusing to help was reserved exclusively for those who actually could – namely, Nato allies who are rightfully struggling to cede to America’s efforts to turn what is exclusively an international defence organisation into an offensive one to suit its own aims.
As Martin sat there listening to Trump offload his grievances on the UK and France, Ireland’s neutrality must have scarcely ever felt as sweet. Ireland remained on the safe periphery, even in the imaginary scenario of the hypothetical Iranian attack on Europe that Trump, in his own mind, believes he has saved the ungrateful Continent from.
“I think it would have hit Europe, maybe not Ireland, but it would have hit Europe,” Trump told Martin. “It is big enough, you would have been affected.” The only other direct reference between Ireland and the war in Iran was when Trump claimed that our oil prices would “drop like a rock” once this war ended, presumably soon. (Remind us again, why they rose so sharply in the first place?)
But Martin knew on which side of the world his true loyalties lie, maybe even where Ireland’s real allies reside. As delicately as possible, he publicly pushed back on Trump’s critique of the UK prime minister. In his analysis today, Keith Duggan notes how Martin, in his defence of Keir Starmer, “somehow managed to talk for three unbroken minutes while his host listened – possibly a record”.
Pat Leahy also reports, in a piece that concludes the visit went “about as well” as the Taoiseach could have hoped, that the Taoiseach also defended Ireland on its migration rules.
And later, Martin also again tried to delicately push back on Trump. Our live blog, which comprehensively covered events in Washington long after the print edition had been put to bed, also covered Martin’s final speech from the four-day US trip, where he argued against tariffs and appealed for “dialogue, negotiation and de-escalation” in the Middle East.
Pat Leahy reports: Standing beside Donald Trump for the presentation of the bowl of shamrock in the East Room of the White House before an invited audience, Martin warmly complimented his host but also made his clearest statement of the day on tariffs and the war in Iran.
“The US is the largest economy in the world. Ireland is small,” Martin said in prepared remarks.
“We need free and open trade to make our way in the world, and we like to see as few barriers and tariffs get in the way of that as possible.”
The Taoiseach went on to promote international rules and order, including the United Nations, and peace in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Gerry Adams in court: ‘hours of jousting’
Elsewhere this morning, we also have in-depth coverage of the case being taken against former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams by three victims of IRA bombings in England. The victims are suing Adams for the sum of £1, alleging he was directly responsible for the attacks.
Mark Hennessy and Ellen O’Riordan write that the high court in London heard yesterday that Adams “pushed” the IRA into attacks in London in the 1990s. Adams has always denied he was ever a member of the IRA.
In his analysis piece, Mark Hennessy writes about the “hours of jousting” between Adams and Max Hill, the former British director of public prosecutions who is now acting for the victims in this case. The infamous beret, presented as part of the evidence claiming Adams was a member of the IRA, made an appearance again. But Adams maintains this is nonsense, telling the trial “even Benny Hill wore a beret.”
Best Reads
Kathy Sheridan’s column this morning is a fresh and thoughtful perspective on the Louis Theroux Inside the Manosphere documentary everybody has been watching.
Remaining on the opinion pages, Michael McDowell is writing about how Trump owes the world an explanation for starting a global oil crisis, and points out that Trump has damaged the interest of the same European nations he was expecting to bail him out by lifting sanctions on Russian oil tankers.
And for something a little different, Céire Sadlier has a righteously cathartic piece on what it’s really like to try to buy a house in this country.
Playbook
From shark tanks to our own familiar little fish bowl, the Dáil returns today.
Here’s the schedule:
14:00 Leaders’ Questions
14:34 Other Members’ Questions
14:42 Order of Business and Questions on Policy or Legislation
15:12 Bills for Introduction
15:27 Government Business: Statements on International Women’s Day
17:52 Private Members’ Business (Sinn Féin): Motion re Energy and Fuel Costs
19:52 Topical Issues
20:52 Dáil adjourns
In the Seanad:
13:00 Commencement Matters
14:30 Order of Business
15:15 SOS
15:45 Government Business: International Protection Bill 2026 — Committee Stage
19:45 SOS
20:00 Private Members’ Business: Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) (Amendment) (Work Equipment) Bill 2026 — Second Stage
22:00 Seanad adjourns
The committee rooms are busy today, with the joint committee on disability continuing its scrutiny of an upcoming Bill on Assessment of Needs, while the transport committee is doing the same for the Bill lifting the Dublin Airport passenger cap.
