Micheál Martin had been having the week of his life until disaster struck
The Taoiseach described their meeting as “very personal, very warm . . . like two Irish people having a good chat”. The invitation to visit Ireland was once again extended to the president and received the customary enthusiastic – but not specific – response. “He can’t wait,” said Martin. He can, though.
Ukrainian president Voldymyr Zelenskiy addressed Congress via videolink on Wednesday, with many members watching his speech, The New York Times reported, with tears in their eyes. But they knew, and he knew, that he would not get a no-fly zone. Though Biden did announce a further $800 million in military aid for the embattled country. Nevertheless, Martin said after their meeting, the US president is “focused on the need to ensure it doesn’t escalate”.
Neal has made clear there will be no UK trade deal if there are any British moves that undermine the Belfast Agreement; Pelosi and Biden himself echoed that sentiment repeatedly. Neal told the Ireland Funds gala dinner that there could be no renegotiation of the Belfast Agreement. Pelosi warned again – at the same event – that if the Northern Ireland border “hardened”, there would be no US-UK trade deal.
Dressed in a white suit she sat down at an aisle seat. As she arrived the former secretary of the US Air force Barbara Barrett was accepting her honorary degree from DCU. She departed from her prepared remarks to welcome Pelosi to gave a little wave as she was applauded by the crowd. “Ireland never had a better friend that Speaker Pelosi,” Neal declared.
The North remains the focus, though, for much of Irish America. Also coming to a head as St Patrick’s Day approached was a resolution tabled by a Massachusetts Democratic congressman William Keating on Northern Ireland which had received the backing of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in America. “There can be no peace in Northern Ireland without justice . . . I am similarly concerned by reports that the British government is considering invoking Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol, the provision of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement designed to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland,” he said.
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