Search
05 Sept 2025
Search
05 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Derry City and Strabane District Council to discuss St Patrick’s Day White House boycott.
Pressure is mounting on political parties across Ireland to boycott White House St Patrick’s Day celebrations in protest at United States' President Joe Biden’s ongoing support for Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Derry City and Strabane District councillor Shaun Harkin (People Before Profit) is bringing a motion in support of the boycott to Council’s plenary meeting at 2.00pm on January 31.
It is understood a similar motion will be brought before Mid Ulster District Council.
Cllr Harkin is proposing: “Council will write to the Irish Taoiseach and all political parties North and South in Ireland calling on them not to attend St Patrick’s Day celebrations in the White House, nor to meet with President Joe Biden or any representative of his administration as part of the St Patrick’s Day events.”
Cllr Harkin’s motion continues: “Council agrees apartheid Israel is engaged in a genocide in Gaza. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed, including over 10,000 children. Many more have been seriously injured and traumatised, almost 2 million people are displaced and face a catastrophic humanitarian crisis with famine conditions.
“Council reiterates its disgust at the level of collective suffering inflicted on the people of Gaza and commends the mass movement that has erupted across Ireland against the violence in recent months.
“Council reaffirms its support for a ceasefire; for the BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions) campaign; for expulsion of Israeli Ambassadors from Britain and Ireland; for Israel to be held accountable by international bodies for war crimes and genocide; and for Palestinian self-determination.
“Council agrees Israel's murderous campaign of collective punishment is highly dependent on the military, financial and political support of Joe Biden and the US government in particular.
“Council agrees the Biden Administration has immorally opposed calls for a humanitarian ceasefire, systematically repeated Israeli war propaganda and that Biden has personally bypassed Congress to transfer arms to Israel during the genocidal war that will cause widespread death and suffering in Gaza.
“Council will write to Claire Cronin, US Ambassador to Ireland, British Foreign Secretary, David Cameron and Joseph Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, calling for an immediate suspension of all military, financial, and diplomatic support for apartheid Israel and its genocidal war on Palestine."
The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) has also called on all Irish politicians not to travel to Washington, "to meet with President Biden this, or any other St Patrick's Day."
It said: "In light of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, there has been much public discussion on whether or not it is appropriate for Irish politicians to travel to Washington to meet US President Joe Biden for St Patrick's Day.
"The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign wishes to make our position on this clear - we believe that no Irish politician should meet with any US President while the United States remains the main political and financial backer of Israel's apartheid regime.
"This was our view even long before Israel's genocidal assault on the people of Gaza - indeed the IPSC has protested the visits of every US President to Ireland since our foundation: Bush, Obama, Trump, and last year, Biden.
"The Biden Administration's response to Israel's onslaught on Gaza has been nothing short of depraved. It has continued to supply Israel with arms for its genocidal mass murder; continuously repeated Israel's debunked atrocity propaganda; given Israel diplomatic cover in the international arena; and repeatedly used its UN Security Council veto to ensure Israel is able to keep murdering Palestinians," said IPSC.
The organisation added that Palestinians in the US, alongside IPSC's partner organisations Al Haq and Defense for Children International Palestine, have just taken a case against Biden and other members of his Administration for their 'complicity in Israel's unfolding genocide of Palestinians in Gaza'.
It added: "It is not for nothing that he has earned the moniker 'Genocide Joe'. Biden and his Administration are enablers, supporters, facilitators of, and active partners in, Israel's genocide in Gaza.
"As such, we call on all Irish politicians not to travel to Washington to meet with President Biden this, or any other St Patrick's day."
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
