Thurles & Tipperary Says Stop The “Junket” Slur – Start the Accountability – Publish the Outcomes of St Patrick’s US Missions.
Ireland must travel, must engage, and must report back, in black and white.
Ireland should maintain the St Patrick’s Day diplomatic programme within the United States, including the Taoiseach’s White House engagement, because it is one of the few annual moments when a small island reliably gets direct access to the world’s most consequential decision-makers, investors and influencers.
But if we are truly serious about ‘people before posturing’, then every travelling politician and councillors must also be required to prove value for money and publish measurable outcomes on return.
That is the missing piece in this annual debate: loud accusations of “junkets” on one side, defensiveness on the other, and far too little mandatory, standardised reporting to the public.
It has been reported that nine or ten ministers are expected to travel to up to 15 US states around St Patrick’s Day. Meanwhile, FOI figures reports show €1,096,493 spent on 569 St Patrick’s Day events globally, with an average cost per event of €1,927.
That is not inherently scandalous. It can be excellent diplomacy. But it must be auditable diplomacy.
Engagement is not endorsement, it’s statecraft.
Tourism matters too; and we should never insult the American people. The United States is one of Ireland’s most important tourism markets and supports jobs right across this island, from hotels and restaurants to visitor attractions, guides and local festivals.
Tourism Ireland notes that in 2023 the island welcomed over 1.2 million US visitors, who spent about €1.7 billion here, making the US the most important overseas market for revenue.
Tourism Ireland’s USA Market Profile 2024 reports 1.3 million American tourists, €2.0 billion in spend, and 11.4 million bed nights; figures that underline just how much Irish employment depends on maintaining goodwill with ordinary American people, not just the political class in Washington.
You can disagree robustly with any US administration, while still showing respect to the American public, the diaspora, and the millions who choose Ireland in good faith.
Diplomacy that drifts into contempt is not “taking a stand” – it is self-harm.
Some opposition voices argue our Taoiseach should not go to Washington at all. People Before Profit TD Mr Richard Boyd Barrett has said it is “not appropriate” for Mr Martin to present President Donald Trump with shamrock this year.
Labour MEP Mr Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has also publicly taken a “No to the Shamrock ceremony” position. Labour leader Ms Ivana Bacik has also ‘raised conditions’ around any visit if threats continue.
Whatever the merits of ‘snub the White House’ rhetoric, it is just gesture politics unless those calling for such a boycott can set out a credible alternative strategy, which of course they haven’t.
Yes, they are entitled to their stance. But the public is entitled to ask a harder question: what is their alternative plan to protect Irish jobs, Irish exports and Irish leverage, in real time, when the stakes are highest?
Ireland cannot clap itself on the back for moral purity, while leaving Irish workers, exporters and inward investment exposed.
The national interest is not served by boycotts that make headlines at home and achieve nothing in Washington.
The public interest test: show the receipts and the results.
If critics insist on calling these trips “junkets”, and who can blame them, then the answer is simple: remove the ambiguity.
From this year onwards, every minister and senior office-holder travelling on St Patrick’s missions should be required to publish a short, standard “Outcomes Report” within 30 days of returning, laid before the Oireachtas and posted publicly.
That report should include:
- Full itinerary (meetings, organisations, purpose).
- Total cost (travel, accommodation, hospitality), itemised.
- Concrete outcomes (investment leads, trade barriers raised, diaspora commitments secured, cultural/tourism campaigns launched).
- Follow-up actions with named officials/agencies and deadlines.
- What did not happen (meetings refused, issues parked, risks flagged).
This is not bureaucracy, it is basic democratic accountability. If nearly €1.1m is being spent globally on St Patrick’s Day events, the public should see, clearly, what Ireland gets in return.
A direct challenge to the “boycott brigade”.
It is easy to demand that Ireland “takes a stand” from a safe distance. It is harder to sit across the table from power and argue Ireland’s case, on trade, immigration, investment, peace and international law, and then come home and account for what was achieved.
If the likes of People Before Profit and a Labour MEP want to oppose engagement, let them publish their own alternative: a costed, credible strategy that protects Irish livelihoods and advances Irish values, without access, without dialogue, and without influence. Otherwise, it is politics as performance. Who elected these people anyway?
Ireland should go – and Ireland should know.
Ireland should absolutely maintain the St Patrick’s diplomatic programme in the US, and Irish politicians should visit American cities beyond Washington because that is where investment decisions, diaspora networks and industry clusters live.
But also the era of “trust us” travel must end.
Go. Engage. Promote Ireland. Protect jobs. Defend values, and then report back to the over taxed individuals who fe..ing paid for it all.
Leave a Reply