Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is due to meet with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington, DC today, Friday, March 15.
The engagements are part of a decades-old tradition where the sitting Taoiseach meets with the sitting US President in Washington, DC on or near St. Patrick’s Day.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on March 5: “On March 15, President Joe Biden will host Taoiseach Leo Varadkar of Ireland, for a bilateral meeting, followed by a St. Patrick’s Day Celebration at the White House on March 17, continuing a longstanding St. Patrick’s Day tradition.
“The leaders will reaffirm the close and enduring partnership between the United States and Ireland and the extraordinary bonds between our people.
“They will discuss our countries’ shared commitment to continue supporting Ukraine in the face of Russia’s brutal aggression, as well as our coordination on a range of other global issues, including the Middle East.
“They will reaffirm their steadfast support for the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement as we welcome the recent restoration of Northern Ireland’s Executive and Assembly.
“Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff will host the Taoiseach and Mr. Matthew Barrett for a breakfast at the Naval Observatory on March 15.”
Despite calls for him to boycott the annual engagements due to the US response to the war in Gaza, Varadkar arrived in Boston on Monday for his weeklong St. Patrick's Day visit to the US.
Varadkar had argued that it would be a "big mistake" to skip the US visit and that he would "use the opportunity - in private, in the Oval Office and in public in the White House - to make clear how the Irish people feel about the situation in Gaza and how we believe the US needs to adopt an approach that will help to bring about a peace settlement in the region.”
Speaking at the JFK Library and Museum in Boston on Monday night, the Taoiseach reiterated Ireland's call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
"Ireland will continue to call for an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and a massive and sustained increase in humanitarian aid, food, and medicine to the people of Gaza," Varadkar said in Boston on Monday evening.
"We will also continue to call and to work for a meaningful political pathway leading to self-determination for the Palestinian people."
The following day, looking ahead to his bilateral meeting with Biden, Varadkar told reporters in Boston: "When it comes to the situation in Palestine and Gaza, I'll be very keen to push the case for a ceasefire and, more importantly, to ask America to get involved, once again, in the drive for peace."
Varadkar again brought up the matter of Gaza on Wednesday night when he addressed the sold-out audience, which included top US politicians, at the annual Ireland Funds Gala in Washington, DC.
"And I want you to know that Ireland stands with democracy, stands with liberty, and stands with the rule of law. And we stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes," Varadkar said.
"Further away again, there is another frontier, stained by the blood of the innocent and the tears of the suffering.
"The brutal and indiscriminate attacks carried out by Hamas on Israeli civilians on the 7th of October were vicious terrorist crimes and atrocities and there is no context that explains or excuses them in any way.
"As we sit here tonight in this wonderful building, Palestinian civilians, who are not responsible for the crimes of Hamas, are being subject to humiliation and starvation, and that is wrong.
"We as Europeans and Americans, that are at least in some part responsible for the troubles in that region, have a duty to do all that we can to bring peace and justice to the Holy Land."
Varadkar's address at the Ireland Funds Gala on Wednesday night was accused of being 'softer' than his address at the JFK Library on Monday.
The PA reports that Varadkar rejected those accusations on Thursday: “There’s nothing I wouldn’t say here that I wouldn’t say back home.
“But I think any time you speak to any audience, or any time you go anywhere in the world, you know, we have to get the tone right and tailor the message for the audience.”
Comments