Elaine Loughlin: Is Micheál Martin the unluckiest Taoiseach ever?
President Joe Biden meets virtually with Taoiseach Micheál Martin in the Oval Office of the White House. Picture: Patrick Semansky/AP/Shutterstock
Having been thrown in at the deep end of a global pandemic, war in Europe and spiralling inflation, Micheál Martin will go down as possibly the unluckiest Taoiseach in history, and that was before Covid robbed him of the honour of St Patrick's Day in the Oval Office.
Tuesday was one of those balmy golden evenings in Washington and Taoiseach Micheál Martin was finally feeling the glow.
Out on the lawn of the Irish ambassador's residence, he mingled with Irish-American representatives, diplomats and dignitaries and had a conversation with the Ukrainian ambassador to the US Oksana Makarova on the terrace.
After two years of restrictions, lockdowns, missed opportunities and difficult decisions, it felt like Mr Martin was finally getting to do what a Taoiseach should do.
His wife Mary, who was denied the opportunity to share in the momentous occasion of being by his side when he was elected Taoiseach in 2020, smiled on with pride as he addressed the crowd.
Unveiling a sculpture of John Hume in the leafy garden of the residence, Mr Martin told those in attendance: “John's work is as vital as ever, perhaps, above all, it teaches us the importance of patience and persistence in the search for political agreement.”
After more than three decades toiling at local and national level, in government and for long periods on the opposition benches, patience and persistence are two skills that Mr Martin has honed and mastered.
But that patience can only have been tested to the max when word of his positive Covid result came through in dramatic fashion on Wednesday evening, just hours before he was due to met President Joe Biden in the White House.
"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," Mr Martin told the contingent of Irish reporters who had travelled to Washington to cover his programme of events.
The American trip came off the back of four manic days of engagements for the Taoiseach, who had travelled to Versailles for a meeting of EU leaders the previous Thursday, before flying to London for a weekend of festivities which included attending the Six Nations rugby match with British prime minister Boris Johnson and walking in the St Patrick's Day parade.
While clearly at ease in speaking to the 70 or so invited guests at the Hume event, he noted privately he had been taken aback by the fact there had been absolutely no restrictions in the UK and the public were going about their business as if Covid had never existed.
Included in this was having his son Micheál Aodh and his girlfriend by his side at a showing of in the Kennedy Centre on Tuesday night.
It was in stark contrast to the image of Martin eating a chickpea salad with a boiled egg as he watched Micheál Aodh tog out for Cork during Covid — not from the Páirc Uí Chaoimh stands, but alone from Government Buildings.
Wednesday got off to a bad start when it was announced that US vice-president Kamala Harris’s husband Douglas Emhoff had tested positive for Covid-19, meaning the set-piece breakfast in the Naval Observatory would not go ahead the following day.
But the Taoiseach got on with his day and remained upbeat.
When asked about rising Covid cases at home, Mr Martin expressed some concern but stressed the current variant was not having a significant impact on ICU numbers.
"The good news is that vaccines are still very effective in terms of preventing serious illness," he added.
That day, he gave a key address at the US Chamber of Commerce, spoke to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the phone and presented Stripe founders and brothers John and Patrick Collison with the Science Foundation of Ireland St Patrick’s Day medal.
The strict protocols meant that all those due to be in the Oval Office on Thursday, including Mr Martin, underwent antigen testing by the White House medical team, before the entourage headed for the $1,000-a-head Ireland Funds gala dinner.
Securing President Biden to speak at the dinner was a major coup for the organisers.
Sat next to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Mr Martin listened on as President Biden spoke of his ancestors who left Co Mayo and Co Louth 165 years ago; his 2016 visit to Ireland and his Irish-American upbringing.
As Speaker Pelosi made her way to the podium to introduce the Taoiseach, a whisper went into her ear.
Not fully aware of the extent of the drama unfolding, Speaker Pelosi went off-script to explain a last-minute change to the running order which had just been relayed to her.
"I would now invite the Taoiseach to the stage but I have been informed that because the Taoiseach is on call as one of the leaders in the world, his 2022 International Leadership Award will be given to ambassador from Ireland to the United States Daniel Mulhall."
It was Mr Mulhall who broke the news to the 700 guests in attendance: "This evening before we left to come here, all members of the delegation were tested for Covid-19 and the test on the Taoiseach was negative. But because a member of the wider delegation tested positive, and while that test was being checked and rechecked, out of an abundance of caution the Taoiseach was tested just as he left to come here and sadly that test has turned out to be positive.
"So the Taoiseach has asked me to explain this and to deliver his speech on his behalf. I can say the Taoiseach is in good form but it's a sad thing that I have to do, but he has asked me to do this."
With that, the energy drained from the room and Micheál Martin's hopes of getting into the Oval Office evaporated.
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