THE TAOISEACH HAS extended an invitation to next year’s St Patrick’s Day parade in Ireland to an American woman who received online abuse in recent days after she posted a video of herself Irish dancing.

The Virginia-based dancer Morgan Bullock posted her Irish dancing routine to TikTok and Instagram at the weekend and it quickly went viral.

While much of the commentary was positive, Bullock also came up against abusive and racist responses from some.

Yesterday, she posted a statement, telling her followers she is proud to be a competitive Irish dancer.

“If you think that a black girl Irish dancing is some form of cultural appropriation, then you clearly don’t know much about Irish dance and what is became over the years. There are Irish dance schools all over the world, including Mexico, China and Africa.

It has become a very widespread sport in which participants become immersed in the culture, whether or not it is based on ethnicity.

“Irish dance has taken me all over the world. I have been to Ireland multiple times and I was met with so much love and support.”

Speaking to RTÉ’s Liveline earlier today, she said “people are failing to recognise the difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation”.

The dancer said most of the racist comments were coming from American people.

This evening, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar shared the video, commending Bullock for “some brilliant moves”. 

“Hope you can dance in Ireland for St Patrick’s Day in 2021. We’d love to have you over,” he said. 

The Embassy of Ireland to the US also said today that it was fortunate “to have such talent here devoting themselves to Irish dancing”.

“You are better than good at what you do. And you are a credit to both our nation and yours.”