Readers blog: Calls for Kenny White House boycott are 'wrong headed'

With fountains going green, the unmistakable sound of feet stomping on marble floors in traditional rhythm, and tables full of Emerald Isle sourced bread, cheese, seafood, and yes, whiskey, for a few hours each year the White House is transformed into the greatest celebration of Irish culture to be found anywhere the Global Irish have trod.

While the delivery of a bowl of shamrocks and the inherent goofiness of such a stereotypical event may seem to be lacking any true meaning, the value of the annual invitation by the White House to the Irish government is not one to be taken lightly.

Calls for Taoiseach Enda Kenny to break tradition and reject President Trump’s overture are wrong-headed. His acceptance in no way signals an adherence to, or support of, the misguided policies Trump espoused on the campaign trail, or, more alarmingly has already pursued in the early days of his Administration. Instead, it is the opportunity, unavailable to any other world leader, to articulate the values of his nation in the most followed arena of world politics year in and year out.