Opposition politicians have called for a proposed visit by US president Donald Trump to Ireland in November to be met with protests or even cancelled in response to his controversial policies.
It was announced on Friday night that there would be an Irish stop when Mr Trump comes to Europe to attend the commemorations of the centenary of the end of the first World War on November 11th.
The White House said that Mr Trump will visit Ireland "to renew the deep and historic ties between our two nations".
The Government said the visit would offer an opportunity to follow up on the issues discussed when Taoiseach Leo Varadkar met Mr Trump in the White House to mark St Patrick's Day "including migration, trade, climate change and human rights".
After they met in March, Mr Varadkar noted that an invitation to the US president to visit Ireland, extended by his predecessor Enda Kenny, still stood. Mr Trump said he would “love to” visit Ireland, saying it was “a great country”.
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said the Government should cancel the planned visit and urged the public to show their disgust and rejection of the Trump administration's policies.
‘Destabilising’
He said people should turn out “as we did during the Iraq War in 2003, in large-scale mass protest around the country”.
“Donald Trump’s administration champions policies that are destroying our planet, destabilising international order, and reaching new political depths by appealing to racism, misogyny, xenophobia and hatred,” he said.
“These policies do not reflect the Irish people’s values - we need to show him and the world that this is not normal. Decency, integrity and fact-based politics still exist and are worth defending.”
The Labour Party said it would "join with like-minded people to oppose this visit" as Mr Trump has "shown himself to be no friend of democracy or human rights".
“While we will always be firm friends of the American people, Ireland will not welcome a man with Trump’s record of discrimination, sexism and lies,” a Labour spokeswoman said.
The Workers' Party said there has been a groundswell of anger at the proposed visit and it was clear that that thousands of people would take to the streets to protest against the US president being in Ireland.
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said Mr Trump's "poisonous, hate-filled and dangerous politics are not welcome in Ireland".
“I would urge everybody who opposes war and racism and who cares about equality and the planet to join the protests that we will certainly organise against Trump when he comes,” he said.
Fianna Fáil's spokesman on foreign affairs Niall Collins said the visit offered "an opportunity for the Government to state Ireland's position that the need for decency, compassion, respect for international diplomacy and integrity has never been as important and as necessary as it is today."
‘Always welcome’
In a Twitter post, Tánaiste Simon Coveney said the "US President is always welcome in Ireland".
“Our two countries have such strong historic, economic, cultural and family ties. Maintaining those connections is always a top priority.”
In another post less than an hour later, Mr Coveney criticised a decision by Mr Trump’s administration to cease providing aid for refugees in Palestine.
“This decision is shocking + will make peace even more difficult. How can u promote peace+target innocent children in this way,” he said.
Mr Trump’s last visit to Ireland was in 2014 when he was greeted by then minister for finance Michael Noonan and other local officials at Shannon Airport as he exited his jet.
The visit came after Mr Trump, not then a politician, bought the five-star Doonbeg Lodge and Golf Club for an estimated €15 million in 2014.
Clare Co Councillor Bill Chambers, who represents the area that includes Mr Trump's hotel and golf resort in Doonbeg, said it would be "a great boost for the West of Ireland" if the US president came to visit.
“They’d be mad about him coming there. There was up to 300 people working there over the summer and it is a great boost for the people of Doonbeg.”
Mr Trump’s former press secretary Seán Spicer described the US president’s planned visit as “great news”.
The visit would "be a great opportunity to see first hand the strong economic ties our nations share," Mr Spicer, a regular visitor to Ireland, told The Irish Times.
