'Anything that would have jeopardised' Irish/US relations would not be in Ireland's interests - Leitrim councillor

A Leitrim councillor has given his take on Taoiseach Micheál Martin's St Patrick's Day interaction with US President Donald Trump. 

Speaking to the Leitrim Observer, Cllr Paddy O'Rourke said: "There was huge potential for it not to go well insofar as they are coming from completely opposite positions regarding how conflict should be dealt with but it seemed to go well. 

The Taoiseach got his reaction in early regarding tariffs in that he had spent the 48 hours after arriving in the US in the run up to the visit amplifying the issue about all of the investment that Irish companies have made in America. If anyone was in any doubt that this was a two-way street, that was certainly put to bed very efficiently by the Taoiseach."

He continued: "He had to summon up every ounce of experience he's gained over the last 40 years in public life to get through this; in particular, in more recent years, as Taoiseach meeting people who had very very different views and trying to navigate that and have a conversation."

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He said that the visit had been billed as a potentially arduous task that would be fraught with tension but Cllr O'Rourke said he believed this was the wrong mindset. "A lot of people at home were trying to build this up as though it was going to be a disaster and if it wasn't a disaster, it should have been a disaster. The reality is that most reasonable people realise that Donald Trump will not always be in the Whitehouse and we could not afford to ignore the invite because most other nations would kill for it. 

We look forward to the day when someone who has a more reasonable attitude will be in the driving seat in the White House. For all of those reasons, we need to maintain that relationship because if it was broken, I don't think it could ever be repaired."

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He said the visit was a real opportunity for the Taoiseach to advocate for Irish interests among some of the most powerful people in the world. "It's not just the 15 minutes in the glare of the cameras; there is a lot of time spent in the White House rubbing shoulders with the movers and shakers and investors that shape our destiny to a large extent, in terms of foreign direct investment etc.

People need to wise up and mature; it was almost as if a considerable amount of the nation wanted some form of sensation or something that would be written about for years to come; this nonsense. That's seldom the way international statesmen do their business. Trump is unpredictable and anything could have happened; he could have slammed Micheál Martin for not sending ships we don't have. 

You look back to when Leo Varadkar laid claim to having squared the planning permission for Doonbeg extension, it puts it into perspective how much these big players know about the goings on in small countries. They want the Irish American vote when it suits them but they do operate on a bigger sphere with the big movers and shakers and we're lucky to have that. Anything that would have jeopardised that wouldn't have been in the Irish interest."