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Northern Ireland’s first minister will not attend the White House for St Patrick’s Day in protest at the “injustice” of Donald Trump’s recent comments on Gaza.
Michelle O’Neill, who is also the vice president of Sinn Fein, will be joined by the party’s leader Mary Lou McDonald in boycotting the annual ceremony to mark the national holiday on 17 March.
Ms McDonald said she will not attend the event at the White House over “a principled stance against the threat of mass expulsion of the Palestinian people from Gaza” – a reference to recent comments by US President Donald Trump.
Speaking at a press conference in Dublin, Ms O’Neill said she “cannot ignore” Mr Trump’s comments and her decision not to travel to the White House meant she was standing “on the side of humanity”.
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“The decision to not travel to the White House has not been taken lightly, but it is taken very conscious of the responsibility that each of us have as individuals to call out injustice when we see it,” she said.
“We are all heartbroken whenever we witness the suffering of the Palestinian people, and the recent comments by the US president around the mass expulsion of the Palestinian people from Gaza is just simply something that I cannot ignore.”
She added: “At times like this, people look towards political leaders to stand against injustice. So in the future whenever our children and grandchildren ask us what did we do when the Palestinian people endured unimaginable suffering, I can say firmly that I stood on the side of humanity.”
The Sinn Fein leaders were challenged at the press conference on why they believed it was right for Micheal Martin, the Taoiseach and Ireland’s head of government, to go to the White House, but not Ms O’Neill, who is joint leader of Northern Ireland’s devolved government.
They said the Taoiseach’s engagement with Mr Trump was “distinct” and “unique”, as he…
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