Two Irish politicians say they will boycott this year’s St. Patrick’s Day events at the White House in protest of US President Donald Trump’s statements on Gaza.
Mary Lou McDonald, the leader of the Sinn Fein party and the leader of the opposition, and her deputy, First Minister Michelle O’Neill, say they will not attend the celebrations after Trump called for the permanent displacement of Gazans from the Strip.
“The US president’s comments on forced expulsion of the Palestinian people of Gaza cannot be ignored,” says O’Neill in a statement. “In the future, when our children and grandchildren ask us what we did while the Palestinian people endured unimaginable suffering, I will say I stood firmly on the side of humanity.”
McDonald says that despite US-Irish ties, “there is also an onus on us to speak honestly and to act when we believe a US administration is wrong, catastrophically so in the case of Palestine,” and therefore made the “principled stance” not to attend.
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Friday, February 21, 2025
