Editorial: To go or not to go

Questions were asked a few weeks about whether the Taoiseach Micheál Martin should visit US President Donald Trump on 17 March after the United States kidnapped former president Maduro from Venuezala.

This week it was confirmed eight Government ministers will go to the US. An Taoiseach Micheál Martin will travel to Washington where he is expected to visit President Donald Trump in the White House. He also plans to go to Philadelphia. The Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee will head to Boston while Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke will visit New York. Minister for Housing James Browne is to visit Chicago, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon will travel to San Francisco while Minister for Arts Patrick O'Donovan will travel to Atlanta and Savannah in Georgia. Minister for State Robert Troy is going to Austin while Niamh Smyth will go to Miami so the Irish Government has no qualms about heading to the US at a point when EU-US relations are at an all-time low.

Chambers Ireland welcomed the announcement of this year’s St Patrick’s Day ministerial missions.

Chief Executive Ian Talbot said this year’s programme underlines the importance of sustained international engagement at a time of increased global uncertainty.

“St Patrick’s Day remains the most effective moment in the calendar for Ireland to reinforce its global economic relationships and to engage directly with political and business leaders in key markets. There is significant Irish investment already in the US and businesses here have a strong appetite to deepen and sustain trade relationships with their US counterparts. Protecting and developing these relationships requires a long-term approach and consistent engagement, particularly through periods of uncertainty.”

Of course, the greatest reason for these ministerial missions is commerce, business and promoting Ireland, so Chambers Ireland will always back them.

But as the US continues to slide into more chaos and its democracy continues to weaken, should our Government try to do a bit more than just sell brand Ireland over there? I don’t know. It’s hard to think that Donald Trump would even notice if Micheál Martin didn’t show up.

I’m not sure if he thinks of Ireland as anything more than a hotel/golf course complex of his!

One unintended consequence of Trump’s attempts to grab Greenland is it has alienated some European far-right supporters. Recent polling by a French journal Le Grand Continent found between 18-25% for far-right voters in France, Italy, Germany and Spain now think of Trump as an “enemy of Europe”. Every cloud has a silver lining I guess!