The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar made a plea for the immediate need for bombs to stop in Gaza the central part of his speech at the annual shamrock ceremony reception in the White House with president Joe Biden.
Mr Varadkar also strongly identified with the Palestinian people in some of the strongest comments he has made during his week-long visit to the US.
During the course of his remarks he also moved Mr Biden to tears when he quoted the president’s late son, Beau Biden, who died of cancer in 2015. Mr Biden wiped away tears as Mr Varadkar recalled what Beau Biden had said about “the promises we make to our children, who deserve a chance to succeed”.
The Taoiseach told a large audience in the East Room of the White House that the Irish people identified with Palestinians and were deeply troubled by the catastrophe unfolding there.
“We see our history in their eyes. A story of displacement, of dispossession, of national identity questioned and denied. Forced emigration. Discrimination. And now hunger.”
He said he supported Mr Biden’s work to secure a ceasefire and said the most immediate need was for bombs to stop.
Mr Varadkar also said Israel’s history was reflected in the eyes of Irish people.
“A diaspora whose heart never left home no matter how many generations passed. A nation state that was reborn and a language revived.”
He said it was possible for Ireland to be supportive of both Israel and Palestine. He said the experience of the Northern peace process – particularly the concepts of parity of esteem and a totality of relationships – would be useful for any future negotiations.
Earlier, Mr Varadkar said that people who have criticised the shamrock bowl ceremony in the White House misunderstand its significance and its context.
Speaking outside the White House in Washington DC before the St Patrick’s Day ceremony with US president Joe Biden on Sunday, Mr Varadkar defended the custom saying it forms part of a weeklong programme that involves comprehensive engagement with the US administration on high level policy.
He said it would not be “wise” for him as Taoiseach to hold a meeting with the president on Friday in the Oval Office and then snub the shamrock ceremony on Sunday. He met Mr Biden for 30 minutes on Friday and said afterwards the US president told him the White House was pressing hard with countries in the Middle East, as well as using its influence with Israel, to put in place a ceasefire within a number of weeks.
Specifically asked about an opinion piece in The Irish Times at the weekend by novelist Sally Rooney – where she claimed the picture of the Taoiseach alongside a president who supported Israel would “haunt us forever” – the Taoiseach said that view did not reflect the depth of engagement.
“I think what happens here [in Washington] is a lot more than the shamrock ceremony. I think that is to misunderstand what I as Taoiseach and previous taoisigh have done here.
“That particular ceremony is an important one. It has gone back 40 years. What’s of enormous value here is the ability to have those meetings with the president, with the vice-president, with governors, with senators, with members of the cabinet. It allows us to put across our perspective and analysis and also to hear from them as well. It’s interesting to hear other people’s perspectives and understand what they’re doing,” he said.
Mr Varadkar argued that Ireland was a small country but could use its voice. “We can call for an immediate ceasefire [in Gaza] as we have for quite some time to a country that’s big, powerful, influential like America. They’re the ones that can make it happen, but they don’t just make it happen by calling for it. They have to try to negotiate it. And that is what they’re doing”.
Mr Varadkar said the war in Gaza was one of the issues he wanted to discuss while on the weeklong visit to the US and he had raised it at every opportunity.
He disclosed he had met the director of the CIA, William J Burns, this weekend and had learned about the work the US was doing to try to secure a ceasefire.
“I have no doubt that the US administration is working hard to put a stop to the violence in Gaza, to have a ceasefire that’s abided by both sides ... with a view to moving towards a permanent peace.
“Over the past few months ... I’ve seen the European position move and the US position move as well. It’s much closer to our position than it was in October or November.
“It’s very clear to me that this administration is working very hard to secure a ceasefire to try to develop that into a permanent peace. And I think you’ve seen a change of tone here, in Washington, from Senator [Chuck] Schumer and others who have been far more overtly critical of the Israeli government,” he said.
Senator Schumer harshly criticised the militant approach of Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu in a Senate speech last week that also criticised the huge civilian toll in Gaza.
The Taoiseach said efforts by Israel to find a military solution to eliminate Hamas would not succeed. He also said he believed what Israel was doing would drive the extreme ideology and could end up radicalising more people.
“It’s a big mistake. I don’t think it’s in the interests of Israel’s long-term security to believe that there is a military solution that gives them security.
“We have had 100 years of violence now in that region. And it’s very clear to me that the solution isn’t going to be eliminating a terrorist organisation like Hamas, and it is a terrorist organisation, because the ideology behind it just becomes stronger until there’s just and lasting peace.”
Mr Varadkar also said the changed dispensation in the North had not changed his mind that Sinn Féin would be an unsuitable partner for Fine Gael in Government.
“We believe their economic policies would send Ireland backwards and would make Ireland broke again. We believe that their foreign policy would take us away from being at the heart of Europe ... and would risk making enemies of our friends,” he said.
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