Irish ambassador fills in for absent Taoiseach at Irish business leaders luncheon in Washington
President Trump’s trade war with the EU took centre stage in Washington on Wednesday at the first of the week’s St Patrick’s celebrations.
The Irish Ambassador to America Daniel Mulhall addressed the crowd at the Irish Business Leaders Luncheon, in the place of the absent Taoiseach who had delayed his trip to deal with the Coronavirus outbreak at home.
Mr Mulhall delivered the speech, which was supposed to be delivered by the taoiseach, taking aim at Trump’s trade war with the EU, which has seen raised tariffs imposed on Irish goods.
Mulhall criticises US trade tariffs on EU, after President Trump began restructuring the more than $1 trillion US trade relationship with the European Union, complaining that their position on trade is “worse than China”.
"The Irish butter on your bread, the Irish cream liquor you'll enjoy later now costs more," Daniel Mulhall told the crowd.
“But we're prepared to bear the extra cost.
“It hurts our consumers and our stocks, we hope that current talks between our EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan will negotiate a resolution.
“Rather than focus on tariffs we want to scale up investment in the United States.”
He went on to add that anti-immigration sentiment has no place in Irish society and was demonstrated in the most recent election, where far-right candidates received tiny percentages of the votes.
Adding that “Cead Mile Failte” was a way of life for Ireland its people.
The inclusion of the immigration stance was another notable difference between Ireland and the US under President Trump who has rallied against immigration from certain countries.
Coronavirus also played a notable role in the speech as both countries grapple with the outbreak.
Mr Mulhall added that the crises will only be tackled by “sound evidence-based policy and international cooperation”.
The Taoiseach’s first official event in the American capital will be the Ireland Funds dinner, which will honour House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, on Wednesday evening after arriving late in the afternoon.
The Taoiseach has 24 hours of engagements in Washington, on Thursday he will meet the Vice President, President Trump and attend the annual Speaker’s lunch.
The annual Ambassador's reception is not going ahead due to Coronavirus fears.
The Taoiseach's St Patrick’s Day programme ends on Thursday evening.
On Friday, he will participate in the Cabinet Committee on Covid 19, which will happen via teleconference.
