> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://rebelnews.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Micheál Martin, the Board of 'Peace' and the St. Patrick’s Day Junket - URL: https://rebelnews.ghost.io/micheal-martin-the-board-of-peace-and-the-st-patricks-day-junket/ - Published: 2026-01-22T20:48:11.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-01T07:53:49.000Z - Author: Fiona Ferguson - Tags: Features, International, News, Opinion, Palestine, Board of Peace, EU, Greenland, imperialism, irish government, Mícheal Martin, St Patrick's Day, Trump, White House, #Migrated-1790841191722, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-10-01 07:53 Micheál Martin’s trip to the White House to wine and dine with Donald Trump for St Patrick’s Day is ‘not in doubt’ according to the Irish Independent. And why would it be? It’s not like the Irish establishment to let US imperialist ambitions get in the way of grovelling submission. After all, the Irish establishment has toed the line completely on the Western-backed genocide in Gaza. Martin and Simon Harris might like to claim otherwise, but the facts are that they refused to enact a single material sanction on Israel no matter how many Palestinians were murdered. This is because they know what Washington demands of them. It was obvious when the Taoiseach visited the White House last year, as he laughed along as Trump joked about the housing crisis. The shamrock tradition, going back decades, is painted as a recognition of the efforts of Irish immigrants and the good relations between the two countries. (What would Trump say about Irish immigrants if it was happening under his watch today?) But the reality is: it's about greasing the wheel of Irish capitalism as a conduit tax haven for US multinationals. Everything else is just window dressing. ### Trump Pivots to Europe Some will say Trump’s threat to take [Greenland](https://rebelnews.ghost.io/the-u-s-nunarput-greenland-the-danish-imperialist-dimension/) is a step too far to stomach the Washington visit this year. But since the direct involvement in the slaughter of Palestinians in a generation-defining genocide wasn’t enough to turn Martin’s stomach last year, why would Trump’s latest gambit be? The irony, of course, is that we will be told by the Dublin elite that the visit is crucial for trade and fostering business opportunities across the Atlantic. Leaving aside the fact that economists like [Esmond Birnie](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17qnxrq1y7o?ref=rebelnews.ghost.io) at Ulster University have said it is hard to quantify what is tangibly gained from these standalone visits, if anything, the backdrop to the trip is Trump pivoting his threats to Europe, his supposed allies, with his muscling in on Greenland/Nunarput. Perhaps the aim of a Washington trip this year is to prove that Ireland is the best behaved boy in school – not like European classmates Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway and the UK who were until very recently on the receiving end of the tariff threat for sending delegations to a military exercise in Greenland. Nauseating but plausible, this could be undone when Ireland is undoubtedly expected to play a role in a co-ordinated EU response to Trump. According to [Michael Gasiorek](https://www.ft.com/content/5c85d4af-4874-43cc-a1f5-f3f1f6664c70?ref=rebelnews.ghost.io), director of the Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy at the University of Sussex, “Trump has crossed a line in going beyond simply some bilateral market-access \[trade\] negotiation to try and force NATO countries apart. I cannot see them agreeing to this.” ### Irish Capitalism and the United States Despite Trump’s ongoing and outrageous ventures in South America, the EU, Africa, and the Middle East, the fact is that Ireland’s financial outlook under the Irish establishment’s reign is intrinsically linked to its relationship with the biggest superpower in the West. Even more important than its link with the EU. The architects and managers of the Irish tax haven, whether Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil or whatever sell-out party is propping them up, are interested in protecting this economic connection. It is at the heart of their political perspective. We cannot expect a sense of moral duty or humanity to intervene, therefore. We cannot presume that principle alone would turn the Taoiseach from showing up at the White House door. Sinn Féin, for all their anti-establishment rhetoric over the years, haven’t broken with the primacy of Irish capitalism in their perspectives for the future of the island either, border or none. Hence, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin have consistently made the Paddy’s peregrination to the US even as US bombs rained down in Iraq or Afghanistan or elsewhere over the years. ### Irish Solidarity with Palestine Ireland’s relationship with the US is deep but so too is the well of solidarity with Palestinian liberation and other anti-imperialist movements among the Irish people. Particularly strong is the depth of sympathy among Sinn Féin’s base. Gerry Adams was rolled out in 2024 to try and assuage bubbling anger, saying ‘Palestinians would understand’ Sinn Féin going to the White House during a genocide because Ireland’s struggle has to be the ‘primary focus’. So what made the difference last year when multiple parties in the North, including Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the Alliance Party, made the decision to boycott the White House in a historic about-face? Was it a change of approach on the international stage, a decision that the United States should be openly shunned and challenged? Was it a break with the forces of Irish capitalism, recognising that prostration before US corporations will only drive us toward the abyss? No, unfortunately not. Rather it was the tens of thousands of people in every major city across Ireland demanding it. The call to boycott Biden had been resisted by Sinn Féin in 2024 – but only just. In 2025, to engage with Trump was beyond the pale. The issue of Palestinian liberation, or even internationalist solidarity with Venezuela, Iran or Greenland, will not motivate the bases of Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael to the same extent as it would Sinn Féin’s or other opposition parties in the South. But that doesn’t mean that the mass movement of people on this island cannot raise the necessary pressure to stave off the visit. ### Movements Can Force Their Hand Support for the establishment parties is at an all time low as they prop each other up in the Dáil, not having enough seats to rely on a smaller party and take turns. As with any big political issue which this or that government has claimed to hold dear over the years, the power of the masses cannot be underestimated in forcing a ‘change of heart.’ Who remembers the ‘quiet revolution’ which Leo Varadkar claimed led the way to the repealing of the 8th amendment and which he heralded his own role in leading from the helm? The same Varadkar had publicly opposed abortion and even equal marriage because it served the interest of his ilk to maintain a relationship with the Catholic Church. Not so when the masses mobilised and demanded change (loudly!) There are plenty more examples besides. Karl Marx once wrote that the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle. Struggle against those in power, he meant, has always been the driving force for change in society. By brazenly pushing forward with a relationship with Trump - a demagogue who hates workers, women, migrants and the poor - despite his debased actions around the world and his financial threats which could impact Irish workers, Micheál Martin and his government are prioritising the interests of Irish elites over millions of Irish people. The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie – Marx again. Those whose affairs would benefit from a Washington trip—multinationals, vulture funds, landlords, the megarich—will be lined up to applaud Martin’s decision as ‘diplomatic’ and ‘sensible and necessary’. ### Micheál Martin and the Board of ‘Peace’ At the time of writing, Micheál Martin has also confirmed he has received an offer to join Trump’s so-called “Board of Peace” for Gaza. Of course this body has nothing to do with peace. It’s a committee for further conquest, an organisation of oppression, a continuation of the colonial carve-up of Palestine to the wants and desires of Western imperialism, primarily the US. Will Micheál Martin accept the invitation? Will he join the most detestable war criminal of them all, Netanyahu, who has unsurprisingly been given a role? If he does, it would represent the worst betrayal of Palestinians by an Irish government in a period that has been littered with them. Of course, if he refuses, he deserves no praise. You don’t get credit for simply not doing ill. ### We need an anti-war movement Trump is twisting the screw. He wants the European capitalist class to understand their place as a subordinate to Washington. In this period, the answer isn’t to obsequiously roll over for the US empire. That road leads only to more imperialism, more war, and more misery for the workers and oppressed people of the word. Micheál Martin should roundly reject the invitation to both the Board of ‘Peace’ and the White House on St. Patrick’s Day. On the latter, the same approach should be taken by the largest opposition party in Ireland, Sinn Féin. But resisting Trump and the forces of empire can’t be left in the hands of politicians. It is on all of us whose interests are being trampled on to present the challenge: A united movement of trade unions, environmentalists, anti-imperialists, feminists, anti-racists and more, who are utterly misrepresented by our governments’ slavish tailing of Donald Trump and who will not accept a relationship with our so-called allies in the US at the expense of Palestinians or Venezuelans, of migrants being rounded up by ICE – or indeed, whoever is in Trump’s crosshairs next week. As the war drum beats across Europe, too, this movement is more urgently required than ever.