Finian McGrath: I will not attend Trump visit events

Independent Alliance Minister Finian McGrath has told the Taoiseach that he will not attend public events involving Donald Trump because of the US president’s mocking of people with disabilities.

The disabilities minister voiced his opposition to Mr Trump’s visit to Ireland during a brief discussion at Cabinet yesterday about the planned trip here in November.

Transport Minister Shane Ross also said he wanted Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to raise Irish people’s concerns with the US president about his policies when he visits Dublin.

While Fine Gael ministers in the coalition raised some of the issues around Mr Trump’s policies, none said they would boycott his visit or engage in protests.

The Irish Examiner understands that one of Mr McGrath’s fundamental concerns, raised at the first post-summer Cabinet meeting, was Mr Trump’s mocking of New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski two years ago, which drew international criticism.

At the time, Mr Trump claimed he had no idea that the reporter he was mimicking had a disability.

But the Independent Alliance minister said he would not attend any public or State events organised for the US president’s visit.

Other concerns raised by Mr McGrath included Mr Trump’s foreign and domestic policies as well as his attitude to women, Cabinet colleagues were told.

Mr Trump had also hammered Ireland over corporation tax, said Mr McGrath.

It is understood that the Taoiseach accepted Mr McGrath’s position.

A spokeswoman for Mr Ross last night said he disagreed with Mr Trump’s policies but had yet to decide about his position on attending events.

Shane Ross supports the right to protest, he will decide in the next couple of weeks,” she said.

The spokeswoman also said that Communications Minister Denis Naughten did not support boycotting Mr Trump’s trip.

“Denis believes that protest doesn’t bring about change but engagement does,” she said.

The Taoiseach’s spokesman said he accepted people were entitled to express their opinions. Nonetheless, there were “historic ties” between Ireland and the US.

Opposition TDs in Labour, the Green Party, and People Before Profit, among other parties, are planning large protests to coincide with Mr Trump’s visit.

Details of the trip are still not arranged, but there are suggestions that Mr Trump will stop in Dublin as well as at his hotel golf resort in Clare on a return trip from Paris.