The Government has not compromised “one iota” of its values in its engagement with the White House, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has told the Dáil.
He said there had been “significant pushback” from the US about the Republic’s position on the Middle East, but the State “is recognised around the world as asserting its principled position”.
Mr Martin also said he saluted the comments of Canadian prime minister Mark Carney in Davos about the application of “principle and pragmatism”, adding: “That’s exactly what we’ve been doing.”
The Republic believed in the principle of “an international rules-based order. We have not compromised on that,” he said.
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The Taoiseach was responding to Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger, who cited an Amárach survey that 47 per cent of people did not want the Taoiseach to go to the White House, while 35 per cent favoured a visit.
![Ruth Coppinger claimed the Government has 'led us to the point where our economic policy is so reliant on American FDI [foreign direct investment] that we are in moral bankruptcy'. Photograph: Collins](https://www.irishtimes.com/resizer/v2/27XSFIIUDP7EQRBHB4A3C7RI5Y.JPG?auth=e16409cdd8f8c07a134b8959be45542c9921a8f5347d83afbfeb365ac8bd3dbb&width=800&height=891)
Ms Coppinger said the public “want you to show a moral backbone. St Patrick’s Day is particularly about the Irish migration experience. What an insult to celebrate it with somebody who’s terrorising migrants as we speak.”
She claimed the Government has “led us to the point where our economic policy is so reliant on American FDI [foreign direct investment] that we are in moral bankruptcy”.
The Dublin West TD said the Taoiseach had not spoken out about US president Donald Trump’s “attack on Venezuela and the kidnapping of its leader, or the bombing of Iran ... You still haven’t even ruled out going on the board of peace for Palestine that he’s proposing, a disgusting collection of war criminals aiming to turn Gaza into Vegas.”
Moreover, she asked: “And where do you stand about the unleashing of Ice [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] operating in the US as a modern Gestapo?”
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The Taoiseach replied that “President Trump was democratically elected by the American people in an emphatic electoral victory. You may not like that, but you cannot actually dispute that.”
He said Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro “stole the election and had a regime of repression that was reprehensible. He created the largest migration out of Venezuela ever in that country’s history.”
Mr Martin added: “I do believe in engagement. I don’t believe in your approach that we shouldn’t engage.” And he suggested that if they applied that approach, they would not be engaging with a lot of people.
Mr Martin stressed: “We have compromised not one iota of our values in terms of our engagement with the United States.”
The State had not compromised on its belief in an international rules-based order. And on Greenland, “we did not compromise our core position in terms of the territorial integrity of Greenland, Denmark and sovereignty”.
