{"id":633939,"date":"2026-09-23T23:34:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T23:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/633939\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T23:34:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T23:34:20","slug":"i-believe-in-self-determination-mamdani-on-a-united-ireland-after-round-of-bingo-with-taoiseach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/633939\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I believe in self-determination’: Mamdani on a united Ireland after round of bingo with Taoiseach"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Journal<\/a> \/ YouTube<\/p>\n

NEW YORK MAYOR Zohran Mamdani has said Irish people should decide for themselves on a united Ireland as he met with Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin, telling reporters self-determination \u201cshould be extended to the Irish\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is for them to decide, 26 plus six, what it answers,\u201d the 34-year-old socialist mayor told reporters as he left the New York Irish Center in Long Island City.<\/p>\n

He later added: \u201cI trust the Irish to make that decision\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mamdani had joined the Taoiseach at the Irish centre in Long Island City on Wednesday afternoon, where the pair called bingo numbers for a weekly meet-up for senior Irish-American citizens.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0876\"
\n Are you making these up?, the mayor asked the Taoiseach at one point as he called out the traditional bingo rhymes. The Journal<\/p>\n

The Journal\n<\/p>\n

Mamdani, who has been a vocal supporter of Palestine, and was just yesterday accused by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being a Hamas supporter, also complimented Ireland for its support of Palestine.<\/p>\n

A soccer fan, who recently backed Dublin community-owned football club Bohemian FC, the mayor was asked by a reporter if he would encourage Irish people not to watch the controversial upcoming Nations League Ireland versus Israel match.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The mayor politely declined to give a view.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, what I would say is that I appreciate the Irish people, and I actually mentioned this to the Taoiseach as well, that when we\u2019re thinking in New York City as to what is an example of solidarity, it often comes to answer of: the Irish.\n<\/p>\n

Not only have the Irish stood up for dignity and a real belief in human rights, they\u2019ve applied it to Palestinians when so many people draw a line and refuse to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019m truly in appreciation. I will leave that question to the Irish,\u201d Mamdani said.<\/p>\n

The mayor, who, like Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin, has often been referred to as a \u2018Trump whisperer\u2019 for his cordial relationship with the US President, was also asked what his secret is for dealing with Trump\u2019s volatility.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I think the thing that we have in our favour in our city is that the president comes from this city.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe share a love of this city, and so the conversations that we have are bound by that point of agreement, even amidst many other disagreements,\u201d was Mamdani\u2019s response.<\/p>\n

Bingo!<\/p>\n

It was a short visit for Mamdani and the Taoiseach to the Irish centre, where Mamdani was presented with Ogham artwork by the centre\u2019s staff before he and the Taoiseach departed for a trip on the subway.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"55546825096_733ff1441b_c\"
\n Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin Irish Government<\/p>\n

Irish Government\n<\/p>\n

The mayor was given a warm reception at the centre, with executive director George Heslin telling Mamdani that while it was his first visit, they had screened a film by his award-winning mother, Mira Nair, two years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel we have welcomed the spirit of your family here already\u2026\u00a0It feels like we are welcoming you home,\u201d Heslin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Presenting Mamdani with the artwork, Heslin said:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to say how lucky we are that your mom and dad, a professor of anthropology at Columbia University, brought a young seven-year-old boy to New York City.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd only 28 short years later, he would lead our great city and remind us daily, New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of 2026, led by an immigrant.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Mamdani and Martin made their way to the subway, the mayor told reporters it was \u201can honour\u201d to have the Taoiseach in New York.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0882\"
\n The Journal<\/p>\n

The Journal\n<\/p>\n

As they walked the several blocks towards the subway, the Taoiseach explained the history of the GAA to Mamdani, who expressed an interest in attending an All-Ireland final after being invited by the Taoiseach.<\/p>\n

During a seven-stop subway ride, the two leaders were interrupted several times by New Yorkers asking for selfies with the mayor.<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach referenced travelling to New York while health minister to \u201clearn lessons\u201d before implementing the smoking ban in Ireland. \u201cI\u2019ve often said I did my first pub crawl as a minister in New York,\u201d the Taoiseach said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFeel free to come back anytime,\u201d Mamdani replied.
https:\/\/x.com\/TJ_Politics\/status\/2102832040030654532?s=20<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach said he explained to the New York mayor that Ireland was planning to build the \u20ac19 billion MetroLink, saying \u201cany expertise we can get from the United States in building tunnels we\u2019ll take.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair also discussed housing, which is as much of an issue in New York as it is in Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe housing issue is our number one challenge and priority, we\u2019re making progress. We\u2019re building houses at the fastest rate in Europe, but it\u2019s not enough,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn many ways we\u2019re facing a similar challenge, for us the most pressing issue is also housing,\u201d Mamdani said when asked what lessons Ireland could learn from New York in tackling its housing shortage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are looking to build more housing in our city than we\u2019ve seen in the last 70, 80 years\u2026So this will be our focus, we know it will be yours,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mamdani made history in November 2025 when he was elected as the first Muslim mayor of New York<\/a>, becoming the youngest mayor the city has had in 100 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0381\"
\n Longford woman Christine Burns, with a photo of herself at 19 – the age she was when she moved to New York. The Journal<\/p>\n

The Journal\n<\/p>\n

Back at the Irish centre, many of the senior citizens were delighted to have met the Taoiseach, who spent time taking photos and chatting to attendees ahead of the mayor\u2019s arrival.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The mayor was also a hit with the seniors, with one woman remarking, \u201cHe has a beautiful smile\u201d, over cheers as the mayor made his way up to the bingo console with the Taoiseach.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Journal \/ YouTube NEW YORK MAYOR Zohran Mamdani has said Irish people should decide for themselves on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,4320,269142,43,20922],"class_list":["post-633939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-irish-centre","tag-news","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633939","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=633939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}