{"id":621673,"date":"2026-09-11T18:28:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T18:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/621673\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T18:28:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T18:28:12","slug":"ireland-holds-its-breath-as-its-leftwing-president-prepares-to-meet-trump-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/621673\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland holds its breath as its leftwing president prepares to meet Trump | Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ireland\u2019s president, Catherine Connolly, has called Donald Trump<\/a> abhorrent and an abuser of power. In his sole previous comment on Connolly, the US president seemed to think she was a man. Now that they are about to meet, Ireland is holding its breath.<\/p>\n

Trump is to fly into Dublin on Saturday morning for a two-day visit centred on golf. But before making it to his beloved greens, protocol obliges him to meet a woman who has given every impression of loathing him.<\/p>\n

A courtesy call to \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in, the Irish president\u2019s official residence and workplace in the city\u2019s Phoenix Park, has left the government anxious and the media reaching for popcorn. \u201cWhat could possibly go wrong?\u201d headlines ask.<\/p>\n

Many in Ireland<\/a> are rooting for Connolly to let rip at Trump for his policies and rhetoric on immigrants and the Middle East. Others hope she will stifle any criticisms to avoid provoking a visitor who could upend Ireland\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

The taoiseach, Miche\u00e1l Martin, said he had no concerns \u201cat all\u201d about the encounter, but one senior official said the government was on tenterhooks. \u201cWe need to get him [Trump] in the \u00c1ras, then out of the \u00c1ras. We\u2019ll breathe easier after,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

As MP, Connolly protested Trump\u2019s 2019 visit to Ireland and more recently assailed him over his positions and policies on Gaza, Iran and other issues. Photograph: Niall Carson\/PA<\/p>\n

Before winning the Irish presidency<\/a> \u2013 a ceremonial post \u2013 last year, Connolly was an independent leftwing member of parliament for Galway who protested against Trump\u2019s 2019 visit<\/a> and more recently assailed him over his positions and policies on Gaza, Iran and other issues. \u201cIf we are going to act as an independent sovereign state, a neutral republic, we must use our voice to speak to power and the abuse of power by president Trump,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Asked in March about the criticism, Trump replied: \u201cHe\u2019s lucky I exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump is now to meet Connolly \u2013 and Martin in a separate meeting \u2013 before heading to his golf resort in Doonbeg, County Clare, which is hosting the Irish Open.<\/p>\n

Heavy security around the Phoenix Park and Doonbeg will insulate the US president from protests, including a \u201cNo welcome for Trump\u201d demonstration that is expected to draw thousands to central Dublin on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Garda officers patrol the beach at the Irish Open in Doonbeg before Donald Trump\u2019s expected arrival at the weekend. Photograph: Brian Lawless\/PA<\/p>\n

Some hope Connolly will speak for them when she meets Trump behind closed doors. \u201cShe should speak truth to power,\u201d Rosie O\u2019Donnell<\/a>, the US comedian who moved to Ireland after Trump won a second term, told the Irish Independent. \u201cI don\u2019t think she should drop what she believes in to be polite to a madman. He is like a mad king that has destroyed the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leftwing parties that supported Connolly\u2019s presidential run urged the former barrister to \u201cfind a way\u201d to convey criticism without causing a diplomatic storm. Trump has expressed affection for the emerald isle but also wants American tech and pharmaceutical firms to move jobs and taxes from Ireland to the US, a scenario that could devastate Irish state finances.<\/p>\n

During her election campaign, Connolly promised to heed constraints of the office, which is largely symbolic and has no responsibility for foreign policy. She also said that if asked, she would meet Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat implies that it\u2019s not to meet him in order to berate him,\u201d said Bobby McDonagh<\/a>, an former Irish ambassador to the UK and EU. \u201cShe\u2019ll have an opportunity to have a chat with President Trump and make some gentle points reflective of Irish values. I expect it to go smoothly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connolly could emulate Martin, who discreetly rebutted some of Trump\u2019s opinions during a visit to the White House, said McDonagh. \u201cHe had the emotional intelligence and experience to do it in a way that didn\u2019t provoke any reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

The six-time major champion golfer Rory McIlroy<\/a> said he and other competitors at Doonbeg would focus on the game, not politics. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be different with him being here but we\u2019re here to play a golf tournament and it\u2019s a good golf course so we\u2019ll keep our heads down and play,\u201d McIlroy said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ireland\u2019s president, Catherine Connolly, has called Donald Trump abhorrent and an abuser of power. In his sole previous…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621674,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-621673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}