In DC, Irish officials use St. Patrick's Day to push Gaza cease-fire

This year's St. Patrick's Day celebrations at the White House are shaping up to be particularly tense, considering Ireland's Taoiseach (prime minister) has made it clear he will use the opportunity tell his American counterpart how disappointed he is in the leader's handling of the war in Gaza, and also considering that part of the Irish delegation won't even be showing up to the event, in a public boycott of the US administration over it's role in the war.

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Northern Irish First Minister Michelle O'Neill are among the senior officials still scheduled to meet with US President Joe Biden on Friday and at Sunday's St. Patrick's Day events, and both have vowed to use their time with the leader of Israel's key ally to add to the mounting pressure calling for the US to use its influence to protect the civilians of Gaza.

During a speech in Boston on Monday, Varadkar, who by the Irish Times' measure is "not a renowned orator," delivered "arguably the most powerful speech he has made since becoming Toaiseach in 2017."

During the speech, which was following by a standing ovation, Varadkar spoke about the human toll of what he described as Israel collective punishment of Gaza and warned that “the cries of the innocent will haunt us forever if we stay silent."

“The cries will engender more retaliation and beget more violence and revenge. No child ever gave their consent for terrorist acts. No child should ever be punished for them."

“It is unconscionable that they are dying not just as a result of relentless bombing and destruction, but of hunger and thirst and from an absence of medical treatment and care.”

According to a Reuters report, Varadkhar said he will tell Biden "how Irish people feel, and that is that we want to see a cease-fire immediately, for the killing to stop, the hostages to be released without condition, food and medicine to get into Gaza."

In a piece for the Washington Post, Irish journalist and writer Amanda Ferguson explained the unique position Ireland takes toward the Palestine-Israel conflict — a position that is significantly distinct from the majority of other European countries.

Ferguson says that pacifism is central to the modern Irish identity and the country maintains a long-standing policy of military neutrality. It is one of four EU members that is not part of NATO. In addition to this, is Ireland's history of being "one of the world's more ardent champions of the Palestinian cause."

The Washington Post article underlines that Ireland and Palestine have a common figure in their histories who prevented or thwarted their autonomy. Arthur Balfour, the British politician whose 1917 declaration promised British support for "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for Jewish people," when he was foreign minister, had opposed, when he was prime minister, the movement for Irish sovereignty and independence from England.

Northern Irish First Minister Michelle O'Neill plans on taking a slightly softer approach, opting for a strategic use of US diplomatic history in her appeal to Biden. The Independent cited O'Neill as saying that she will use her time in Washington "to talk to anybody that I can talk to ... to raise the issue of the fact that one of the most successful US foreign policies has been actually the Irish peace process, and their constructive role in terms of being a strong partner for peace."

“And I will be urging the president and others to encourage them to take that same approach in terms of the Middle East," she said in an interview with PA Media.

Biden, who often speaks of his Irish heritage and is fond of quoting Irish poets, visited Ireland last April to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and expressed his support for the peace deal.

Last month, Ireland announced more than $21 million in support for the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), after an Israeli dossier accusing 12 UNRWA members of being involved with the Oct. 7 attack triggered huge cuts in its funding and threatened to bring its activities in the region to an end. Reuters also reported that Ireland announced it is in talks with other EU members who want a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement on the basis that Israel may be breaching the agreement's human rights clause.

The SDLP, a nationalist party in Northern Ireland, said it was not sending any representatives to Washington this week. Late January, BBC reported SDLP leader Colum Eastwood as saying he "cannot in good conscience" attend the White House's St Patrick's Day celebrations because of US support for Israel's war on Gaza.

Eastwood described the response of the international community to the conflict as "heinously deficient," and the US administration's response as "particularly atrocious."

"The scenes of destruction and annihilation in Gaza represent, in my view, a clear act of genocide."