Search

06 Sept 2025

Derry councillor criticises Irish politicians for failing to boycott White House St Patrick's Day celebrations

'No St Patrick's Day Shamrocks for White House Genocide Sponsors' - Cllr Shaun Harkin

'No St Patrick's Day Shamrocks for White House Genocide Sponsors' - Cllr Shaun Harkin

'No St Patrick's Day Shamrocks for White House Genocide Sponsors' - Cllr Shaun Harkin.

Reporter:

Staff Reporter

14 Mar 2024 12:30 PM

Email:

news@derrynow.com

Derry City and Strabane District councillor Shaun Harkin (People Before Profit) has criticised Irish politicians for failing to boycott St Patrick's Day celebrations in the White House.
Cllr Shaun Harkin said: "Handing a bowl of shamrocks to Joe Biden is the last thing Irish political representatives should be doing while he funds Israel's intentional slaughter and starvation of Gaza children.
"Irish politicians, North or South, should heed the global Palestine solidarity movement's call to boycott Biden's St Patrick's Day celebrations in the White House.
"When the eyes of the world focus on Ireland, the platform to pressure the US government to abandon its unconditional support for Israel's Gaza genocide matters. 
"Boycotting Biden's St Patrick's Day celebrations is without doubt the most powerful message of solidarity for the Palestinian people we can send," said Cllr Harkin.
He added: "Despite clear evidence Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, the Biden Adminstration has continued as the main sponsors of the slaughter - but in the face of growing opposition to US complicity, particularly from Democratic Party voters ahead of the November Presidential election, he has attempted to appear concerned about the scale of civilian deaths and the famine in Gaza.
"Sending a dribble of humanitarian aid into Gaza while at the same time using legal loopholes 100 times to arm Israel with the bombs and bullets for the slaughter only underscores the hypocrisy of Biden and the US government. 
"Instead of indulging genocide sponsors in the White House all political parties should be joining marches on the US Embassy in Dublin this Thursday and the US Consulate in Belfast on Saturday to demand an end to the hypocrisy and an immediate ceasefire.
"Derry City and Strabane District Council voted to back a a People Before Profit motion supporting the Belfast US Consulate protest demanding an end to US complicity with Israel's slaughter and the lighting of Council buildings in Palestinian colours over the St Patrick's Day weekend. There can be no business as usual when apartheid Israel and the US government are justifying and normalising genocide."
Derry IPSC is organising a bus to the US Consulate protest: https://bit.ly/derrybus

To continue reading this article,
please subscribe and support local journalism!

Subscribing will allow you access to all of our premium content and archived articles.

Subscribe

To continue reading this article for FREE,
please kindly register and/or log in.

Registration is absolutely 100% FREE and will help us personalise your experience on our sites. You can also sign up to our carefully curated newsletter(s) to keep up to date with your latest local news!

Register / Login

Most Popular

Sponsored Content

Multimedia

We've got Donegal Covered...

Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie

Buy a paper

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.

Buy Now
Get the news

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.

Register Now
Iconic Media is Ireland's largest independently owned regional newspaper and media group, with an unrivalled audience in print, online and mobile. We have 19 regional newspapers and 21 digital sites.

Iconic Digital Titles

  • Carlow Live
  • Clare Live
  • Derry Now
  • Donegal Live
  • Éire Bheo
  • Inish Live
  • Ireland Live
  • Kildare Live
  • Kildare Now
  • Kilkenny Live
  • Laois Live
  • Leitrim Live
  • Letterkenny Live
  • Limerick Live
  • Longford Live
  • Louth Live
  • Mayo Live
  • Nenagh Live
  • Offaly Live
  • Tipperary Live
  • Waterford Live

    • Iconic Print Titles

  • Clonmel Nationalist
  • County Derry Post
  • Derry News
  • Donegal Democrat
  • Donegal Post
  • Dundalk Democrat
  • Homes in Donegal
  • Inish Times
  • Kilkenny People
  • Leinster Express
  • Leinster Leader
  • Leitrim Observer
  • Letterkenny Live
  • Limerick Leader
  • Longford Leader
  • Mayo News
  • Midland Tribune
  • Tipperary Star
  • Tullamore Tribune

    • 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.

    © 2025 Iconic Media