Ukraine top of the agenda when Taoiseach meets Biden

Micheál Martin said he will also raise the issue of undocumented Irish in the US

Taoiseach Micheál Martin is set to meet US president Joe Biden in the White House on Thursday. Picture: Maxwells

The response to the war in Ukraine will be top of the agenda when the Taoiseach meets US president Joe Biden in the White House on Thursday.

While the Russian attack on Ukraine is expected to dominate discussions between both men, Micheál Martin has said he will raise the issue of undocumented Irish in the US as well as new mechanisms to allow for greater legal migration between both countries.

Asked what he hopes to get out of the St Patrick's Day discussion which will take place in the Oval Office, Mr Martin said: "Meeting president Biden is not about getting anything out of it in one sense, because it's going to be first of all a pleasant meeting of one Irishman with another Irishman."

However, he added that Ukraine will obviously be the "dominant" issue and part of that will be "reaffirming and working through the relationship between the European Union and United States".

Speaking in Washington, Mr Martin said: "The president has been very strong in terms of the need for that multilateral system, in terms of the need for the restoration of the strong alliances, and the transatlantic alliance that always existed between Europe and the US. He has been very effective in that regard, no more so than in respect of the current Ukrainian crisis."

The Taoiseach added that US intelligence has "called it right all along" and publicly sharing intelligence on Russia's plans had been "impactful".

Also on the agenda between the two leaders when they meet will be advancing the case of the thousands of Irish who are living and working illegally in the US.

Mr Martin said strengthening and developing the "existing channels of legal migration" between the two countries will also be explored.

We have to develop newer mechanisms, the two-way exchange between our countries that are legal exchanges of people.

"We also want to discuss the economic relationship between Ireland and the United States, which is a powerful relationship, not just in terms of the American multinationals that are present in Ireland, but also the number of Irish companies that are located in America, creating thousands and thousands of jobs in America."

The Taoiseach will meet with Stripe founders John and Patrick Collison, who are originally from Limerick, as part of his engagements in Washington on Wednesday.

He is also due to attend the Ireland Funds gala dinner on Wednesday night, which Mr Biden is also expected to attend.

Mr Martin said film and the arts as well as science and research will be raised during his visit to the Oval Office.

"We will also be thanking the president for his steadfast support of the Good Friday Agreement, and his ongoing concerns about the Good Friday Agreement, and indeed issues around the protocol and the impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland and on the Good Friday Agreement itself."

'Orwellian' behaviour

Separately, Mr Martin accused Sinn Féin of "Orwellian" behaviour after it emerged that the party has erased thousands of press releases from the official website in recent days.

"I think it's very interesting. I read a comment from Deputy McDonald, the leader of Sinn Féin, that the archives are being changed — kind of Orwellian — I thought to myself what does that mean? I would be concerned about it, but I think there's a reason why they're all being taken out of the archives or whatever."

He said he believed that some media statements have been taken off the site as "Sinn Féin was soft on Russia for the last couple of years".

"Sinn Féin is saying, which is good news now, that they don't agree with the violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity, but it was violated in 2014. I recall in the Dáil making those points at the time and the response was someone muted from Sinn Féin, to say the least."