Trump set to face Irish protests

Demonstrations are already being planned in Ireland after it was revealed that US President Donald Trump is set to visit in November. The White House has said he hopes to “renew the deep and historic ties between our two nations”.

It is understood Trump will visit his golf resort in County Clare, along with Dublin, as part of his trip to Europe to attend a commemoration in Paris marking the centenary of the armistice which ended the First World War on November 11.

The 26 County Foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney said he is “always welcome in Ireland”.

The US President faced tens of thousands of protestors, as well as a giant blimp in his image, when he made his first official visit to Britain in July. A giant security operation was deployed to keep protestors well away from the President while he visited London, before he departed to spend time at one of his golf resorts in Scotland.

Trump’s visit to Ireland is likely to follow the same pattern.

Labour Senator Aodhan O Riordain said the planned visit was “completely and utterly disappointing”. He expects Mr Trump will be greeted by “huge protests”.

He said that it was important for the country to send “a strong message to the Trump administration that we reject absolutely and entirely his kind of politics.” He said he understood the importance of maintaining good diplomatic relations with the US but added: “At what point do you have to say something about this?”

Mr Trump’s visit was particularly inappropriate when thousands of “undocumented” Irish in the US are worried about their status due to his anti-immigration rhetoric and policies, he added. “At what point do we say this individual has crossed a line? Sending an invite is something we shouldn’t do in these circumstances.”

Dublin Councillor Michael O’Brien of Solidarity party said there should be “no welcome for this racist sexist hatemonger. We need a big protest and a lend of that baby balloon they had in London.”

People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said that it was “shameful that Leo Varadkar would welcome the odious Donald Trump into this country.”

“His poisonous, hate-filled and dangerous politics are not welcome in Ireland and I would urge everybody who opposes war and racism and who cares about equality and the planet to join the protests that we will certainly organise against Trump when he comes,” he said.

Green party leader Eamon Ryan said the government should cancel the planned visit. He called for Irish people to show their disgust and rejection of the Trump administration’s policies by turning out, “as we did during the Iraq War in 2003, in large-scale mass protest around the country”.

“Donald Trump’s administration champions policies that are destroying our planet, destabilising international order, and reaching new political depths by appealing to racism, misogyny, xenophobia and hatred. These policies do not reflect the Irish people’s values - we need to show him and the world that this is not normal. Decency, integrity and fact-based politics still exist and are worth defending. We’re calling on Irish people to tell our Government to cancel this visit; and for them to demonstrate in never-before-seen numbers should they fail to do so.”

Urgent Appeal