One of the statistics that might have been useful to Donald Trump as he lathered the Irish in buttery praise during Wednesday’s luncheon on Capitol Hill was the number of former US presidents with Irish lineage. Or, more precisely, with a direct line back to Ulster Scots.
“We do know there is that direct line to I think 11 presidents but the Ulster Scots agency are confident they can link that heritage to 17,” Emma Little-Pengelly, the Deputy First Minister of the Northern Irish Executive, said on Thursday morning.
“As I said, by next year all 47 will have that link,” she added.
Little-Pengelly had just finished giving a greeting address at a breakfast gathering organised by the Northern Ireland Bureau, on the ninth-floor building with terrific views of Washington’s skyscape. This time last year, Pengelly-Little and Michelle O’Neill made a striking impression during the annual greening of Washington. After decades of sombre and nostalgic reflection on the Belfast Agreement, the pair presented a vivid living proof of a promising new chapter in Northern Ireland’s volatile story. They stole the show. This year, First Minister O’Neill opted to boycott the visit in what was described as Sinn Féin’s “stand against injustice”.
Doctors initiate legal action over State’s transgender policy
How U2 drummer Larry Mullen jnr avoids conflict with neighbours: buy up all surrounding houses
‘I caught my husband masturbating with a male friend but he says it’s nothing’
Rory McIlroy’s spine-tingling third round puts him in control of his Masters destiny
When Trump was asked about that decision during his Oval Office sit-down with Taoiseach Micheál Martin on Wednesday, the US president seemed genuinely mystified and said he hadn’t heard anything about it. That dismissal was a cutting truth that Sinn Féin’s protest-by-absence has not penetrated the White House walls. Deftly referencing the fact that she is flying solo this year, Little-Pengelly told the gathering that “of course, a bit like those who buy tickets go to the Oasis concert, we’re all hoping for the best but you may not always get both brothers. And today you’ve only got one. I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether it’s the one with all the talent or not.”
O’Neill’s absence is a question Little-Pengelly has repeatedly navigated during the schedule in Washington.
“Ultimately it is a decision for the First Minister whether to go or not,” she told The Irish Times after a public conversation with Marjorie Chorlins, vice-president for European Affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce, hosted by Niamh King of the Aspen Institute.
“I am here. I felt it was important to be here – particularly at this time when there is the potential of that big US-UK tariff trade war. I think it is important for Northern Ireland’s voice to be heard. We can’t dictate the outcome of that but we can try and make sure there is an awareness. And also, the huge potential that Northern Ireland has as a gateway to the UK, the European Union and beyond.”
Little-Pengelly was at the Capitol Hill lunch on Wednesday, hosted by Republican house speaker Mike Johnson, and, along with communities minister Gordon Lyons and NI Assembly speaker Edwin Poots, had an opportunity to meet Trump, where, she later reported, they discussed the “long-standing and close ties” between the United States and Northern Ireland. She also took a chance to remind the president, a golf addict, that next year’s Open golf championship will be held at Royal Portrush. The Claret Jug was on display at the morning breakfast meeting.
But the celebration of all things Northern Ireland coincided with Trump’s ominous vow, via social media, to slap a 200 per cent tariff on wines and champagnes exported from the European Union unless its 50 per cent tariff on whiskey is removed. Unease over an impending tariff war is acute throughout Northern Ireland, the Deputy First Minister said.
“Absolutely. Added to that is the fact that we only operate the rules of the European single market. We are in the UK customs union but those customs routes are complicated by the Windsor framework arrangements so there is the ability, I think, to ensure that is carved out of there. I know that doesn’t help the Republic of Ireland, but from our point of view there is some potential there but we are very aware that because Northern Ireland is so small and this is such a complex arrangement that it could well be caught up on the crossfire. We are a big exporter for example of spirits, particularly gin and whiskey, to the US and I believe that is what they are looking at. So, we are concerned about it.”
Sinn Féin’s absence from the Washington festivities comes little over a year after the party held an Irish unity summit in New York. It has an active fundraising focus in the US and removing itself from what has been an unusually high-profile St Patrick’s week underlines just how far the North has moved since the decade in the 1990s and into the 2000s when it was the centre point of all Washington conversations about Ireland. That’s partly attributable to the success of the Belfast Agreement. In Washington, Joe Kennedy III, the former special envoy to Northern Ireland, and Susan Davis, who runs one of the city’s leading PR firms and who has chaired the US-Ireland business summit, were recently appointed as co-chairs of the ad hoc committee set up to protect the agreement.
But for the Deputy First Minister, the week offers a chance to underline the north-of-the-border distinctions and tell a new story.
“I think the key thing for us is that it’s not as recognisable as we want it to be,” she said. “There’s no doubt that, particularly in political circles, there will be detailed awareness of the politics and history of Northern Ireland. But there is clearly a huge untapped market there. When you look at the Ulster Scots or Scots Irish, they tended to go into the deep south of the middle of America. And many of those people support president Trump as well and maybe don’t realise their heritage as part of that connection. So that untapped potential for all of those Scots Irish and the Presbyterianism that drove itself right through the heart of America and really built so much around the politics and business of that time.”
As for which of the Gallagher brothers has all the talent, Little-Pengelly fell into a cheerful diplomatic guise.
“I believe that all of us probably have a little bit of each brother in terms of the huffiness and the talent, whatever that may be. It’s not for me to decide.”
