Biden hosts Irish PM as delegation boycotts White House St. Patrick’s Day over Gaza

President Joe Biden meets virtually with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, March 17, 2022 (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
President Joe Biden meets virtually with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, March 17, 2022 (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

US President Joe Biden will host Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar for the annual St. Patrick’s Day reception at the White House, even as a portion of the usual Irish delegation boycotts the event over Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza.

During a speech in Boston on Tuesday, Varadkar said he will use the opportunity to tell Biden “how Irish people feel, and that is that we want to see a ceasefire immediately, for the killing to stop, the hostages to be released without condition, food and medicine to get into Gaza.”

Ireland has traditionally been one of Western Europe’s strongest critics of Israeli policies towards Palestinians.

The SDLP, Northern Ireland’s smaller nationalist party, said it was not sending any representatives to Washington this week.

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