Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said he wants a “durable and sustainable” peace deal for Ukraine and he will be making that point in his meeting next week with US president Donald Trump.
He also said there were “different perspectives” on how to reach a solution for the war in Ukraine.
“We want a peace settlement that’s durable and sustainable in Ukraine. President Trump wants a peace settlement in Ukraine. There are different perspectives on how to arrive at that.”
Speaking in the Dáil for the last time before his meeting Mr Trump, he told Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald that in terms of Gaza and the Middle East “we want to consolidate the ceasefire and will be very strongly making that point. We want a surge in humanitarian aid into Gaza.”
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He added: “In terms of the United States relationship with Ireland, that is older than the State itself, and it’s an extremely important one.
“We’re going, fundamentally, to celebrate the historic links, between Ireland and the US. St Patrick’s Day has always been the traditional time to do that. We will be there for our diaspora, with 30 million Americans claiming Irish descent.”
And “in terms of the core issues, the economic relationship is very important. We’re an open small economy, pro-free trade, and I will be articulate from that perspective. We will also articulate our views in relation to Ukraine, and in relation to the Middle East also.”
Ms McDonald had asked the Taoiseach to state “very, very clearly” what he would be saying to the US president in their discussion.
“Will you put it to President Trump, that Ireland stands on the side of international law and diplomacy; that the sovereignty of Ukraine must be upheld; that the pressing and immediate priority now is to build peace through inclusive engagement and good faith dialogue?”
She asked Mr Martin that “in standing with the Palestinian people, will you express our in strong view that the US is catastrophically wrong on Gaza; that the proposal for the mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza is absolutely an unacceptable breach of international law, (and) deeply destabilising for the Middle East and the wider world”.
She said Ireland as a militarily neutral state should speak up for unaligned small countries. Ms McDonald raised the announcement by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that she would seek another €800 billion spending on defence.
She said “peace is not achieved by investing and financing war” and “every rule in the book” had been set aside to enable this investment “in the weapons of war. That’s not a peace strategy.”
Mr Martin told her however that many EU countries were fearful of the threat that Russia poses to their existence.
“No one wants war, but Europe is exposed right now, the Baltics, in particular, Poland, and many others,” he said.
“We shouldn’t forget that in this part of the world, or to undermine or seek to dismiss very legitimate fears that these countries have about their very survival.
“And it is real, and Europe has to be self-reliant in order to ensure peace and prosperity. President von der Leyen made clear in her opening remarks that Europe is about peace. It’s about prosperity. It’s about quantity of life for its citizens.”
The EU had to enhance member states' military and security capability across a range of areas including cyber security, maritime security, and energy security, he said.
Ms McDonald said the EC president had “kick started an EU arms race”.
She said the Taoiseach was visiting the US “at a time when an outrageous threat of mass expulsion from Gaza hangs over two million Palestinians this year.
“The St Patrick’s Day meeting comes at a time of conflict, of challenge and of deep uncertainty in the world. It also teaches comes at a time of deep public concern regarding your moves to dismantle the triple lock and undermine Ireland’s neutrality,” she said.
Separately, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill - who is travelling to the US for St Patrick’s Day events next week - rejected a suggestion by former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney that the Taoiseach should consider not going to the White House meeting.
His remarks came in a Business Post interview in the wake of the clash between Mr Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy last week.
“If I was the taoiseach I might think about sitting this one out, even though I know that’s not going to happen,” said Mr Mulvaney, who served under Democratic president Joe Biden.
He highlighted the Apple tax case, Ireland’s stance on Israel and the trade deficit between Ireland and the US in making the comments. He also argued that Irish diplomacy is “not perceived as bipartisan as it used to be.”
Ms Carroll MacNeill responded to Mr Mulvaney’s remarks, saying Mr Martin is operating in “the best interests of the State.”
She mentioned that her own trip to the US will include engagements at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and she is “representing Ireland to make sure that we’re there at a difficult time for questions of diversity, inclusion and equality, at a difficult time for questions around women, particularly women’s health”.
She added: “So Ireland turns up.
“We turn up to meet people internationally. We turn up in the multilateral system and we have gained a lot of positivity from that.”
She said: “I think it’s important that the Taoiseach go and make the cases we’ve always made for the broad positivity around Ireland.”
