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SHAMROCK, GUINNESS AND the talk of a wind farm in a far off place called Doonbeg dominated the St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Washington DC yesterday.
All eyes were on the young Taoiseach in Washington for his debut visit to the White House and his meeting with US President Donald Trump.
Slick, polished, and for everything to go off without a hitch – no doubt that’s what Varadkar was hoping for. It didn’t exactly work out that way.
The day began in the Oval Office. The elbows were out as journalists scrambled to get a good spot. We had been forewarned by the Secret Service not to knock over any expensive furniture or ornaments (last year, a grandfather clock took a wobble and this reporter [full disclosure] took a tumble near the couch).
Sitting in the presidential office, Leo Varadkar looked like the proverbial cat that had got the cream.
A young politician, just 38 years of age, seated next to the US president. He was quick to point out to Trump at how far he’d come.
“I was telling President Trump that I was here before when I was a Congressional intern back in 2000 – but they didn’t let me in the Oval Office,” said Varadkar.
“And now we do. You’ve made great progress,” replied Trump.
He added that it was his pleasure to welcome the “very popular” Taoiseach.
Trump was in a talkative mood, telling the crowds of reporters that he had discussed trade, military, cyber security and immigration with the Taoiseach.
Trump to visit Ireland
Varadkar made small talk, telling Trump that he would be walking in the St Patrick’s Day parade in New York on Saturday, and inquiring whether it passed by Trump Tower.
He told the president he’d travelled to Texas to meet with two governors.
“Great story,” replied Trump.
The question everyone wanted to know – would Trump be paying a visit to Ireland?
“I will, I love it there,” said the president, adding that he had property on the west coast – the Doonbeg golf resort.
He asked if Varadkar played golf.
“I don’t, but I’m always willing to learn,” replied the Taoiseach.
A quick handshake between the pair and that was it. Next stop was the Capitol Hill lunch.
Not breaking from tradition, House Speaker Paul Ryan raised a pint of the black stuff. “Sláinte,” he said.
The Republican joked that Guinness was one of Ireland’s great exports, pointing out that perhaps he shouldn’t be making jokes about trade right now.
Trade was a common theme through the day.
In a bid to stave off a trade war between the US and Europe, Varadkar suggested that a new trade deal might be in order.
Trump spoke about the issue at Capitol Hill, while taking a dig at Irish corporation tax rates.
“Whenever there’s a problem you call – we’ll solve it, except for trade,” he joked.
They got those taxes so low, you are a tough one to compete with with those taxes.
The Taoiseach then took to the podium. Searching for his speech – he said it was held down by two pints left there by Ryan.
Undocumented Irish
He spoke about Irish links to America, and when he first crossed paths with Trump. (This story has got him into a spot of bother).
He then highlighted what is the main theme at every St Patrick’s Day visit – immigration.
Last year, Enda Kenny said he wanted a deal done on the undocumented Irish in America. He said he hoped the Democrats and the Republicans could work together to “sort this out once and for all”.
Varadkar said the Irish in America are hard-working people, who contribute to the economy.
The issue was again highlighted by Trump during his speech at the shamrock ceremony.
“Over 10% of Americans can trace their ancestry back to Ireland,” said Trump.
“Just think of that,” he said, appearing a little surprised at the stat.
He said Irish immigrants to America helped to carve out the country that exists today, stating that he was impressed to hear they spent their “hard earned pennies to build St Patrick’s Cathedral” in New York.
Last year, Trump described Enda Kenny as his “new friend”. This year, the president said he and the Taoiseach had become ”fast friends”.
Trump said he looked forward to the Taoiseach’s return next year and “for seven more years” – referring to a possible second term.
“Taoiseach, I’ll tell you, we’ve become friends – fast friends – over a short period of time,” Trump told the packed-out room of Irish and American politicians, which included Vice President Mike Pence and First Lady Melania Trump.
“I look forward to your return next year,” he added.
In fact, we’ll see you for about, what? Seven more years, I think. Right? Right? About seven. That’s sort of an interesting concept. Right? That’s what is going to be.
And while it remains to be seen whether the guest-of-honour’s messages about a deal for the Irish will have been heard by America’s most powerful politicians, Varadkar seems to believe Trump is the man to deliver on that promise.
“There’s no better man to make a deal than President Trump,” the Taoiseach proclaimed yesterday.
We’ll have to wait and see on that one.
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Like him or not, Varadkar has played Trump perfectly.
Flatter him, talk about deals and deal making, talk up a nothing phone inquiry; it has been masterful.
You only have to look at how badly Trump’s meetings have gone with other leaders to see how well this has been played.
Better to have the US as a friend than an enemy.
@Brinster: He is playing an absolute blinder in fairness. I’m extremely proud of our fantastic Taoiseach
@Brinster: You would be one of the more astute pro FG commentators that post here. That you and a few others are making comments at such a late hour shows a serious damage limitation exercise taking place.
I don’t think Leo was playing Trump, it smacks more of the Enda Kennys n***er cocktail gaff and a total sucking up to Trump.
In your reply to me and some others on the previous article re the White Hse utterances, you point out that Leo’s perceived gaff re the Wind Towers should have been common knowledge and nothing new. Do you actually understand the implications there? You’re right that the magazine would have been read by all manner of political commentors and political parties, yet Leo got a free pass on it then. Unbelievable! It calls into question the whole political ethos of all political parties and media in the state.It makes it even more unreal that Leo would have put his foot in it now and brought it to the attention of the great unwashed. Are we all being played for fools by all those in Leinster Hse? Every political party? We need to know.
As for a great success the Paddy’s day meeting is being touted as, it might have been, but for Leo’s arrogance.
@Dave Doyle: #FeelingGoodWithFineGael :)
@Dave Doyle: Absolutely no arrogance except in your totally biassed mind. He played a blinder and it will benefit Irish people both at home and in America. He did NOTHING wrong in the matter of the wind farm. He made NO REPRESENTATION as has been confirmed by the planning authority. He simply enquired what’s all this about?
No wonder he’s riding high in tall the opinion polls.
@Donal Hanley: I’ve no problem being attacked by the little FG fanboys. That you cannot see the political implications here shows the lightweights you and that idiot Murphy are. You should take a leaf out of Brinsters book.
@Dave Doyle: Where would you be without the journal.ie providing an outlet for your moronic ramblings. Still you’re entitled to your view but people who think like you will NEVER get to run our country DV.
@Donal Hanley: And people like you have this country in the state its in now Donal.Keep up the good work Dave Doyle.The country is in sh! t and FG have done nothing in 7 years to fix it…
@Donal Hanley: If they were mere “moronic ramblings” you wouldn’t be here commenting on them and making a fool of yourself.
@Dave Doyle: You are a gift that keeps on giving shinnerbot PMSL
Still raging that mary lou was refused an invite to the white house?
@Brinster: according to this mornings papers you are quite wrong. The headlines are all about him interfering in a planning process and the other company is now seeking a legal review. The opposition will make ground on this and the Sunday papers could be interesting.
@frank murphy: Ah the poor Brunette and the Bland Blonde left out.
@Paul Fahey: There were 42 objections to the windfarm and it was still in the commercial courts till last year. Mountain out of a molehill stuff from the usual quarters.
@Donal Hanley: housing, homelessness, health .. national debt in excess of 200 billion, with a 7 billion interest payment a year alone would suggest neither does FG. But the loyal blue bots would take have that said … I therefore must be a lefty or shiner bot
@frank murphy: ahhhh….but Mary Lou was front row and centre for Leo’s absurd attempt at being funny. He completely forgot to pull his head out from up his own ass before he started talking. It was priceless. What a putz.
“Addressing the crowd, which included the US president, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald…..”
@Donal Hanley: hahahahahahahahahah! Yes…please keep spinning it….Please. Because your nonsense shows you and the rest of you wanna be members of the club that FG has no intention of letting you in to, to be the same caliber of fools that arrogant Leo and his arrogant party are. You all just keep digging the hole, jumping in to it, and then covering yourselves up with the dirt. ….just like Leo does. And he illustrated how he does just that yesterday.
@Patty Cullinane: Capitol Hill isn’t the White House. Just sayin’…
@Dave Doyle:
“It calls into question the whole political ethos of all political parties and media in the state.”
Fully agree Dave. That is exactly the point that I think is most relevant here. They must have known about this and they have to know that it was nothing. The constant carping at Varadkar IS the story now, which is a sad indictment of the state of Irish politics. They’d be better off dropping their obsession with his popularity ratings and focusing on policies or others.
@Paul Fahey
The statement by Clare CoCo clearly came too late for some papers. Or else they chose to ignore it.
They confirmed Varadkar made no “representation, objection or observation” in the process.
So he made a call to get an update. An inquiry – which is the exact word he used.
An inquiry does not equal an intervention.
In order to make something of this story, it has to be exaggerated. By all sides.
@Honeybadger197: No shit. Just saying.
@Honeybadger197:
No s**t. Just saying.
But who cares that she wasn’t at the White House. She had a much better view on Captiol Hill, where she was front and centre for the gaffe heard across the pond.
@Ian Kavanagh: Of course you don’t want to know about our thriving economy (highest growth in Europe for the third successive year). You’d
@Patty Cullinane: You really wish there was substance to your fanciful notions, dont you? Aw…
@Donal Hanley: You’d prefer the economy were going down the swanee so you could blame the Government
@Donal Hanley: FG hack.
@Honeybadger197: aw …yes, please point out some more DC landmarks. Hahahahahahahahaha…brilliant.
@Donal Hanley responding to @Donal Hanley: Looks like you have been drinking too much of the FG Koolaid, because we can all see you are talking to yourself again.
@Honeybadger197: You are missing the point. It has gone completely your head.
‘….over your head’
@Brinster: “Like him or not”….. this is the problem. So many of us did like Leo, and had high hopes for him when he became Taoiseach….myself included. And time and time again, he has showed himself to be just another big disappointment. His ‘talking up’ yesterday was hardly about a “nothing phone inquiry”. It was an illustration of everything that is wrong with the politicians running this country…summed up neatly into a nutshell. And the fact that he thought he was being funny….just adds insult to injury. The “piss take” he so cutely referred to has been the one Leo and FG have been having on all of us.
@Patty Cullinane: You do know anyone in the country can query the status of a planning application?
@Honeybadger197: Of course anyone can query the status of a planning application. And whether or not they get an answer in a timely fashion, or at all, often depends on who they are. But this is beside the point.
You are missing the significance of what happened yesterday on Capitol Hill.
In other news…. Hell has frozen over….This is first positive Journal story on President Trump since he took office….
There is positive to be taken out of this.
Our leader had the patience to engage with and to pretend to respect the little projector who can influence our economy and foreign policy. Leo did the right thing
@John003: Hell also froze over because someone else managed to trump, Trump by just saying ‘stuff’ without thinking. (Sshhhh….don’t't mention Doonbeg.)
Birds of a feather….two people that have a tenuous grasp on reality and life for the average joe, stroking each others egos, both openly breach public trust without fear of consequence all the while touting their mantras “MAGA” or “Keep the recovery going”.No wonder they’re fast friends.
Starstruck Leo
@Brian Lee: And starstruck Trump!!!
This guy severely criticised Enda for inviting Trump to Ireland when Enda was top dog,and now he is star struck over in Washington handing over the glass bowl of shamrock, and now it is being revealed he made a “call” to Clare coco for a Trump related manner!! This guy is playing popular politics. But when it comes to it, he is spineless.If he felt so strongly about Enda inviting Trump to Ireland and saying he wouldn’t, then why did he?? It would suit Leo better to stop polishing his ego and crack the whip and get the homeless situation sorted and actually try fix his former dept in Health and give Harris a rollicking for the shambles he presides over
@Michael Wynne: Factually incorrect. He did not severely criticise Enda. He merely wondered aloud whether such a visit would generate widespread street protests. Try and stick to only TRUTHFUL posts.
@Michael Wynne: * FAKE NEWS
FG agenda on overdrive
@Osean Drive: Of course… Leo dropped a clanger with regards to his lobbying on behalf of Trump and they ran all today’s negative SF stories in the morning… they have to do something and quick..
@Vigo the Carpathian: the FG era are utterly obsessed with denigrating SF I’ve never known internal Irish political contempt like it .They rely on ensuring they keep their ageing staunch FG support plus keeping younger generations from supporting them
@Osean Drive: Grow up! If you are old enough to remember the bloodshed SF inflicted throughout Ireland, Northern Ireland & England in the 70′s & 80′s & 90′s & the fear we all lived in, in those days, you might be a bit more understanding. It was no way to live a life, looking over your shoulder every day, for fear of something happening. It was a War Zone. You young people have NO clue what SF put us through, all our lives.
@Osean Drive: Go do some research, on your favoured SF. Look back to their history in 70′s & 80′s & 90′s. See what we had to live through in those days. It wasn’t just a hardship, it was a living nightmare.
At least FF, FG & Labour (& Independents) don’t have blood on their hands, trying to make this country good, which they managed to do, combined – and without the need for SF’s bloody tactics.
Then maybe you can talk, as a man who knows something
@Vigo the Carpathian: He is doing fantastic. Are you looking forward to his second term as taoiseach? I know i am :)
@donnyb: You would imagine that SF was solely responsible for what happened in Nth Ireland from your comment.
You need to seriously grow up.
@Vigo the Carpathian: He did NOT lobby on behalf of Trump as has been CONFIRMED by the planning authority.
@Dave Doyle: dont worry SF shall never be allowed forget the pure evil they stood over and still do.
@donnyb: go do some research, and find out which party that most of the others were born out of, and what blood they have on their hands from before our life times.
@Andrew Giles: Ah the Army Council nonsense being trotted out again.
@Donal Hanley: hahaha, you’re severely mistaken if you think that I’m a SF supporter, but people in general have a tendency to ignore facts that paint a bad light. Every party in this country has a bloody past, that’s just a fact.
@Donal Hanley: yes, yes…of course they did. Please keep talking. It is hilarious to see the FG Spin Machine toadies just making shit up.
@Andrew Giles: None of them murdered Irish children,women and men with terrorist car bombs – only Provisional SF- FACT.
@Donal Hanley: oh, so not one woman or child died during the war of independence or the civil war, there were no fascists going around bashing heads in the 30 ‘s, like I said, every major political party in this country has blood on it’s hands. Take your head out of your a**e , and just face historical facts
@Andrew Giles: and FG stood with the nazis
@Osean Drive: hence the mention of fascists in the 30′s, those blueshirts even adopted the Nazi salute, but, hey, let’s not dwell on the past. These political nuts that post in here are actually comedy gold, instead of tit for tat squabbling, they should actually try working things out for the common good of the electorate, it’s like a schoolyard in here……. My party is better than your party……… This country will never move forward when these eejits dwell on the past instead of finding common ground to move forward and try and fix the mess, instead of airbrushing us with we’re in a recovery, keep it going. No one is being fooled.
Life comes at you fast:
“There’s no better man to make a deal than President Trump,” the Taoiseach proclaimed yesterday.
Jesus the Journal is slow to react Mueller has Subpoenaed The Trump Organization, this happened hours ago… It’s kind of bigger than meeting Leo right now.
@Paula Hannon: TJ.ie isn’t a good source of Washington news, let’s be honest. Hard for them to compete with the likes of NYT etc.
It’s hard enough to get planning for anything in this country and to hear him crowing about being a lackey for big business is too much for me. The next time FG knock the on my door I will explain to them why that is wrong.
Ah would ya look at the 2 lads there talking about shamrock & Guinness. Gotta admire that trump fella sometimes. Puts up with a lot of nonsense during his mandate of “Americans first”
What was the point of Leo’s little story?
Was it meant to be humorous ? To flatter the Donald?
Cringeworthy stuff.
That conversation must have been like watching paint dry.
“Over 10% of Americans can trace their ancestry back to Ireland,” said Trump.
Just think of that,” he said, appearing a little surprised at the stat.”
He’s a little surprised at the fact he didn’t just make this up.
Don’t blame Donald Trump for the lack of immigration from Ireland, rather blame Teddy Kennedy.
Donald Trump may actually help the Irish if he moves to a skills-based immigration policy. Under the current family-based system created by Kennedy’s immigration bill in 1965 the Irish have been all but wiped out.
The 1965 act raised quotas from countries that had been previously disadvantaged, namely those in Asia and Latin America, and established a system under which an immigrant with family in the United States was given preference.
Ted Kennedy apologised for outlawing the Irish in a 2006 statement.
It’s like watching a episode of “House of Cards” and we all know the integrity of the actors!
Why not send the president to represent us.
@Sean Conway: Because it’s a POLITICAL event and the President can not be involved in politics.
Ah sure Tis’nt a great day to be Irish to be sure.
Not a FG supporter but I must compliment Leo
Like a breath of fresh air
Job well done. Simple as that. So stop complaining. Its all about making stronger contacts which can only help Ireland as a whole (not a s**t hole) lol
Windmills look shocking, I can’t understand how they were ever allowed anywhere! Why we cannot harness Wave Power I don’t know! All that Force!?
Considering admissions made by Trump himself on a meeting with the Prime Minister of Canada Leo is the one been played !
Leo , you are a fool if you think Trump is a friend or will aid Ireland in any way . Trump only cares about Trump
It was sad to see Varadkak arse licking Trump
Don’t really care – the planning system is a dysfunctional mess and needs to be scrapped anyway.
Leo treating it with the contempt it so richly deserves…pity he is doing bugger-all to reform it though…..
Isn’t it hilarious to see Poots and other loyalist politicians swanning around the Paddywhackery of the White House surrounded by tri-colors taking the Irish praise for the day for their junket and White House piss up!
Get them home to their constituencies where they’ll be burning Irish flags and denouncing all things Irish as they pander to their knuckle dragging BREXIT loving anti anything Irish supporters!!!
K
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