Minister: I won’t Knee to boycott
Americans do the same thing.
“It’s in all our interests that we’ve done so.” A $60bn (€54.9m) US military aid package for Ukraine was passed by the Senate last month but has stalled in the House of Representatives amid political wrangling.
“When it comes to the situation in Palestine and Gaza, I’d be very keen to push the case for a ceasefire, and more importantly, to ask America to get involved once again, the drive for peace,” Mr Varadkar added.
“It happened before with President Carter, before President Clinton, and I think, hopefully,
President Biden can take the lead on this.”
Meanwhile, Varadkar referenced the long history between the Kennedy family and Ireland, calling JFK “a true friend to Ireland” in his speech in Boston.
History
The Taoiseach on Monday night addressed listeners at the John F Kennedy Library on the deep history between Ireland and the US and the contribution of the Kennedy family to this relationship.
Varadkar said: “President Kennedy laid down a challenge to the country of his ancestors. His stirring words suggested Ireland’s destiny was to play a part in world affairs, as the ‘protector of the weak, and voice of the small’.
“Today, in the 21st century, in the face of some of our greatest crises, we are mindful of that challenge. We are determined to embrace our destiny and speak out against injustice without fear or favour.”
Socks, Epic Museum, €10
In the same gathering, the US economic envoy to Northern Ireland hailed Varadkar as a “radical” who transformed Ireland.
Joe Kennedy III, the grandnephew of US President John F Kennedy, thanked the Taoiseach for choosing Boston as the first stop on his US tour.
Outlining an anecdote in which his six-year-old son misheard the Taoiseach’s name as “Leo the Radical”, Kennedy praised Varadkar’s role in the Government throughout constitutional referenda which repealed legislative bans on abortion and extended marriage equality to gay couples.
“It made me think for a second because Taoiseach, in the best sense of the word, it fits,” he said.
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HAND IN GLOVE: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar during a visit to the Boston Red Sox
CULTURE minister Catherine Martin has defended attending an arts festival in the US that has been boycotted by some Irish artists over Gaza.
Ms Martin said she would use her trip to South by Southwest (SXSW) to coincide with St Patrick’s Day to “make clear her revulsion at the devastation that has been unleashed on Gaza”.
Artists including Soda Blonde, Mick Flannery and Belfast group Kneecap have withdrawn from the festival over opposition to the US Army being a sponsor, citing US support for Israel.
“The Minister spoke to many of the musicians who have withdrawn from the SXSW Festival,” a statement from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media said.
“She outlined that she has the utmost respect for their freedom of expression as artists and reassured them that she will use every opportunity available to her to make clear her revulsion at the devastation that has been unleashed on Gaza.”
And Taoiseach Leo Varadkar supported Martin’s decision.
He said: “I fully appreciate that people have the right to boycott events, I totally respect that.
“But it’s not the policy of the Irish Government to engage in boycotts. It’s our policy to engage.”