Earlier this week, Sinn Féin announced that they are boycotting St. Patrick’s Day events in the White House this year in protest over Gaza.
In a statement, party leader Mary Lou McDonald said that the situation on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank “remains dire”, and that “for all of the talk of a ceasefire”, Israeli attacks remain ongoing and “the genocide continues”.
“Civilians are still being killed. Homes are still being struck,” she said.
“Families who have already lost everything continue to live under fire. Peace in Palestine must mean the end of occupation, the end of apartheid-like systems of control and the full realisation of a sovereign Palestinian state.”
She added: “…Sinn Féin will continue that work with senior representatives on Capitol Hill, the trade union movement, business leaders, Irish American organisations and the diaspora.”
Subsequent to this on Tuesday, Gript called the Sinn Féin press office to ask if the party had received any invitation from the White House this year prior to their boycott announcement. No answer was received.
Gript then texted Sinn Féin’s primary press officer, and messaged Sinn Féin Foreign Affairs spokesman Donnachadh Ó Laoghaire TD with the same question.
While the message to Ó Laoghaire was marked as “seen”, he did not reply, nor did he reply to a follow-up text seeking response.
Now, in a statement reported by the Irish Times, the US ambassador to Ireland, Edward S. Walsh, confirmed that “no members” of Sinn Féin had been invited to the White House, and “none are expected to be invited.”
“Announcing a boycott of an event for which invitations have neither been extended nor finalised is premature,” the ambassador said, per the Irish Times.
Sinn Féin has been contacted again for comment.
The standoff comes during a particularly complex year for Irish-American relations. The Irish Government is moving ahead with its traditional diplomatic “shamrock ceremony” this year, wherein Taoiseach Micheál Martin has confirmed he will meet with President Trump on March 17th.
The Government has argued that the annual mission is a critical opportunity to safeguard Ireland’s economic relationship with the United States, particularly amid global uncertainty regarding tariffs and Ireland’s extreme reliance on US corporations for its foreign direct investment economic model.