While hundreds of Irish political figures and businesspeople greeted Donald Trump in Phoenix Park this Saturday, 12th of September, a few kilometres away, thousands of protesters gathered to object to the American president’s visit.
President Donald Trump was greeted by Helen McEntee and Simon Harris at Dublin Airport at 8 am on Saturday. Trump then travelled to Phoenix Park, where he paid a courtesy call to Catherine Connolly at Áras an Uachtaráin, marking their first-ever meeting. Trump then met with Micheál Martin at Farmleigh House, followed by a press conference. The Taoiseach and President addressed questions concerning Iran, the US-Ireland economic relationship and the prospect of a united Ireland.
In response, thousands of demonstrators marched from the Garden of Remembrance at 1.30 pm to the Dáil, where a rally was held. Over 30 organisations were represented at the protest, including many pro-Palestinian groups and the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. Several political parties were also present, including the Social Democrats, the Labour Party, the Green Party, and People Before Profit.
Protestors chanted and held placards denouncing corruption, misogyny, racism, climate destruction, transphobia, infringement on Irish neutrality, and the Palestinian occupation. People held signs reading ‘Dump Trump’ and ‘Strike Against American Empire’, ‘Strike against the Billionaire Class’ and ‘No to Trump, No to NATO’. A few were spotted wearing satirical Trump costumes, and some held up inflatable figures of the American president with the likes of Putin and Netanyahu bouncing off his behind.
One UCD student from Minneapolis attending the protest said to the Tribune that “after seeing what Trump has done, ravaging my city, after seeing what he’s done to my country – not to come out here would make me complicit.”
UCD Professor Liam Kennedy spoke to CNN, saying, “Your president is not popular in Ireland. It’s a curious visit; it’s not a state visit. The president is coming to see a game of golf and has a few political meetings on the sidelines.”
Kennedy explained that Trump was kept at ‘great distance’ from the Irish public for reasons relating to his personal safety.
Upon arrival at the front of Leinster House, the rally began with a few poignant musical performances, followed by speeches from representatives of the present movements. UCD’s Ailbhe Smyth, feminist activist and founding director of the Women’s Education, Resource and Research Centre, made an impassioned discourse to the crowd and the Dáil.
“Why on earth would we want to welcome this vile, obnoxious, vulgar man, found guilty of rape, in the US court of law?” she remarked. “A supporter and donor and agitator-in-chief for Israel’s genocidal war against the people of Gaza. Let us remind ourselves of what misogyny means: it means hatred of women, of all women. This misogynist, racist, imperialist, homo-lesbo-transphobic man. He hates our guts; he hates me, he hates you. He hates me as a socialist who wants to take down capitalism, the source of his wealth.”
Chants at the protest included: “Donald Trump, you can’t hide, you’re committing genocide.” A ‘NO KINGS – GAZA IRAN ICE’ artwork appeared on a beach in Dublin, a protest from the organisation Uplift. Similarly, there were reports that an ‘F Trump’ display was created on a field in Clare, near the Shannon Airport runway.
Up to 100 protestors also turned out at Shannon Airport on Saturday. Demonstrations at Doonbeg appeared as close as possible to the golf course.
Trump described a respectful meeting with President Connolly when asked about his courtesy call. In response to another journalist pressing whether they had spoken about the Middle East, Trump shifted topics, mentioning that they had spoken about a united Ireland. When further questioned, Trump doubled down, stating that he would love to see Ireland unified. He declared that ‘it’s going to happen eventually’.
President Connolly has always been critical of Trump’s policies, having protested his visit to Ireland back in 2019. After the unrecorded meeting, Connolly asserted that within it she ‘conveyed the strong view of the Irish people that the normalisation of war and genocide can never be accepted,’ representing Ireland ‘as a country which has suffered famine, colonisation and the violence of the Troubles’.
Connolly presented the US president with a cross of St. Bridget, representing enduring peace, an anthology of the poetry of Michael Longley, which includes a sonnet titled ‘Ceasefire’, and Navigatio Sancti Brendani (The Voyage of St Brendan), a story of a Kerry monk who sailed the Atlantic.
President Trump then met with the Taoiseach at Farmleigh House. The two have met twice before, with Martin directly challenging some of Trump’s claims beforehand in the Oval Office. During their press conference, they described the Ireland-US relationship as enduring and strong across sports, economics and politics before opening the floor to questions from the media. Trump voiced his belief that the war in Iran will end soon, and that oil prices will come ‘tumbling down’ when it does.
When asked about US complicity with Israel’s genocide in Palestine, he stated that there was “very little” going on in Gaza. “We got all the hostages back, some living, some dead,” said Trump. “The parents of those dead hostages, they wanted their sons or daughters, but mostly their sons; they wanted their babies back. We got all of them back. We had 28 of them dead. There are many good relationships in Gaza; it’s quite amazing. I think we’ve done a great job.”
Martin stated that he supports the 20-point peace plan proposed by the president. He emphasised the importance of humanitarian aid in the process.
Trump’s visit spurred conversation surrounding Irish politics and current affairs. Politicians from across the country have been weighing in on the visit. Trump’s call for a united Ireland has stirred responses across Northern Ireland and Britain. Many have faulted the Taoiseach for not demanding more from Trump on global issues, particularly regarding Gaza. But others have acknowledged Ireland’s dependent relationship with the US, or as Trump put it on Saturday,
“The United States and Ireland have a fantastic relationship, a very profitable one for Ireland, and less profitable for us to be honest”.
The last stop for Trump was the US Ambassador’s residence at Deerpark, where he delivered a 40-minute speech on economic and foreign affairs. The brief morning visit concluded with Trump’s departure to County Clare. He spent the rest of his visit at his golf course, Doonbeg, where the Irish Open was held.
Chloe Molloy and Sophie Gliott
Cartoon – Ian Hinsley