Taoiseach still hopes to arrive at the White House by St. Patrick’s Day 2021

TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has said that he would like to be able to make the trip to the White House for St. Patrick’s Day next year.

He said TheJournal.ie that the journey, and if it continues in 2021, could depend on what the situation is with Covid-19 next year.

“It will depend a lot on the status of Covid in the United States, internationally and in Ireland. When I invited President Biden to Ireland, he told me ‘just try to keep me out,’ “said Martin, adding that he looks forward to meeting the president-elect of the United States.

“Yes, I would love to be able to get to Washington DC on St. Patrick’s Day, but we’ll have to see in terms of where Covid is,” he added.

The Taoiseach said he had met with Biden before, when he was vice president of the United States under Barack Obama.

“He has a genuine affection for [Ireland], and he’s a multilateralist at heart. He wants to reestablish the relationship with the European Union. He has made it very clear to me from day one that he wants to rejoin the Paris agreement, that he wants to rejoin the World Health Organization (WHO), ”he said.

“And he is a friend of Ireland, in terms of trade, which does not want anything in the context of Brexit that undermines the Good Friday Agreement. I think it will be a very interesting year from a policy perspective, in terms of restoring relations with Europe and hopefully the UK. Basically marrying the alliance between the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom, which after all, despite their differences, have common values ​​in terms of democracy, freedom of expression and all that, ”said Martin.

oe Biden and his security team literally running during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2012.

Source: DPA / PA Images

Important relationship

The Taoiseach had previously said in September that he was eager to make the trip to America next year.

In an interview with TheJournal.ie Two months ago, Martin said that the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day at the White House is “important to Ireland” and that it should be maintained.

He also said at the time that it is very important for ministers to go to other European cities for St. Patrick’s Day.

This year, then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar had to interrupt his St. Patrick’s Day trip to the United States due to the evolving coronavirus situation at home.

Varadkar delivered a national speech on the national lockdown in Ireland in front of the White House on March 12.