Taoiseach Micheál Martin has been in Liverpool since yesterday as part of a new annual UK-Ireland Summit. Its plenary session is on this morning with delegations of senior ministers from both sides.
Later this morning he travels to Brussels for what amounts to an emergency summit discussing Ukraine and the security of Europe.
The summit with the UK has been long in the planning but coincides with a momentous shift in the global balance of power. New uncertainty over the future of Ukraine and Gaza has been thrown up by a Trump presidency that has matched the unpredictability of the Trump 2016 version with a hard – and frankly worrying – ideological edge.
The rationale behind the Liverpool summit has been to repair Anglo-Irish relations to what they were in the Blair era after years of Conservative neglect and indifference. But it seems that the act of reverse engineering also applies to Keir Starmer’s government and its relationship with the EU. The multiplicity of decisions impacting global politics made by president Trump since January 25th has brought the UK and the European Union closer strategically than they have been for many years.
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How the North and South deliberative forums worked
Last night the Taoiseach and British prime minister met for dinner and at a cultural event. This morning both leaders will agree to a programme of wide co-operation. The Taoiseach will be accompanied by Tánaiste Simon Harris, Minister for Education Helen McEntee, Minister for Climate Darragh O’Brien and Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan.
At the event last night, the Taoiseach emphasised the close relationship between both countries, with bilateral trade amounting to €100 billion annually.
The partnership will take in more co-operation between Irish and British cultural institutions, co-hosting of major sporting events including the 2030 T20 Cricket World Cup, research collaboration, continuation of the Common Travel Area, and working together on offshore energy and interconnection.
Both leaders are also expected to discuss the situation in Ukraine and Mr Starmer’s efforts to ensure that Europe’s approach and those of the Trump administration were more aligned. Asked last night if he would seek any advice from Mr Starmer on how to handle the volatile US president when he meets him next week, Mr Martin said he had “no need” to ask the prime minister for advice.
Brussels summit
The Taoiseach will leave Liverpool before lunchtime to travel to Brussels for the special meeting of the European Council which will discuss support for Ukraine and European security and defence.
It was arranged to respond to the increasingly fractious relationship between Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, which came to a head at the Oval Office last Friday.
Besides strategising on how to demonstrate Europe’s support for Ukraine, EU leaders will also discuss how to bolster EU defence capabilities in response to the clearly diminished commitment of the US to Nato and to European defence, as well as president Trump’s courting of Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin.
Irish Opposition parties will be keenly watching the outcome of the meeting to ascertain what commitments Ireland has given to increase defence spending. With the EU likely to press ahead with increasing defence and military budgets by €800 billion, Ireland’s defence spending is expected to increase substantially. There has been strong opposition also to the Cabinet decision to end the “triple lock” relating to overseas missions by the Defence Forces, which has been seen as a prelude to the possibility of Irish troops being sent to Ukraine as peacekeepers.
Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald argued against the spending, saying “peace is not achieved by investing and financing war” and accusing the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen of kick-starting the arms race.
Mr Martin responded by saying that the Baltic States and Poland had all recent historical memories of being occupied by Russia. “No one wants war, but Europe is exposed right now, the Baltics, in particular, Poland, and many others,” he said.
US Secretary of State raises Ireland trade deficit
Pat Leahy reports on the full details of the phone call between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Tánaiste Simon Harris earlier this week.
A full readout of the call supplied by the US state department makes for not-altogether-happy reading. It emerged that Rubio brought up the trade imbalance between Ireland and the US. It is one of our largest export markets, with €72 billion worth of goods exported there last year, €58 billion of which was pharmaceuticals or chemicals.
As we report: “Irish officials are nervous that Mr Rubio’s comments signal that president Donald Trump will seek to corner Taoiseach Micheál Martin on the Irish trade surplus with the US during his visit to Washington next week for the St Patrick’s Day engagements in the White House and on Capitol Hill.”
Energy supports may be needed this winter
Kevin O’Sullivan has seen the briefing prepared for new Minister for Energy Darragh O’Brien upon coming into office in January.
The main point that stands out is the assessment by officials that households will still need supports for electricity, oil and gas bills because prices remain between 60-90 per cent higher than they were before the energy crisis.
The Government has already said it is unlikely there will be cost-of-living supports for energy in this year’s budget because prices have stabilised after sharp increases. But given that one prominent provider, SSE Airtricity, announced price increases in the past week – with more likely to follow – the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure will be under pressure during 2025 to review this decision.
Oireachtas hears of wasteful spending by the HSE
Marie O’Halloran reports of the raised-voices debate yesterday over wasteful spending in Government departments.
We learned that the Health Service Executive (HSE) has been fined €4.3 million over the past two years for failing to pay its bills on time for purchases including cleaning products and toilet rolls.
Sinn Féin TD Mark Ward said “nobody is being held to account”, as he highlighted fines the health service pays for delays in paying its invoices.
Michael Collins of Independent Ireland called for a department of efficiency. His Government rivals, including Minister of State Kevin “Boxer” Moran, said he wanted an Irish version of Elon Musk’s Doge (Department of Government Efficiency).
Best Reads
Miriam Lord channels Enda Kenny in her column which explores the best advice for the Taoiseach when he enters the lion’s den, otherwise known as the Oval Office, on March 12th.
“Maybe Micheál should give Enda a tinkle and ask for a few pointers about turning on the Cork charm, like.
“But that earlier encounter was before Trump and his people went full-scale doolally, to use a diplomatic term. Fast forward to this week and the man-baby-in-chief is starting into a second term. The mood now is every bit as bad as it was the first time and then some.”
Meanwhile, Jack Horgan-Jones says that former Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall has no interest in running for the presidency.
Eoin Drea, a researcher with the European People’s Party’s think tank in Brussels, writes a provocative column in which he argues for Ireland to become strong advocates of a new single market where “the free movement of capital is actively and consistently promoted”.
His analysis of the current situation here pulls no punches: “No other country in the European Union is as hopelessly and naively dependent on the US as Ireland. Such is the level of American influence on the Irish economy that with a stroke of his pen the US president Donald Trump could immediately precipitate a budgetary crisis in Dublin. Without bumper corporate tax receipts from US companies, Ireland would have run a sizeable deficit every year since our last bankruptcy in 2010.”
Playbook
Dáil
9.00: Parliamentary Questions: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts Patrick O’Donovan.
10.30: Parliamentary Questions: Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill
12.00: Leaders’ Questions
13.44: Statements on International Women’s Day
16.09: Topical issues
16.57: Dáil adjourns
Seanad
9.30: Commencement Matters
12.15: Statute Law Revision Bill, 2024 – Report and Final Stages
13.00: Statements on Seachtain na Gaeilge
14.00: Seanad adjourns
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