Sinn Féin’s decision this week to stay away from St Patrick’s Day events at the White House has taken a new turn, after the US embassy said the party wasn’t invited in the first place, and is not expected to be.
In a statement issued to Irish press, Mr Edward Walsh said that “no members of Sinn Féin have been invited to the White House, and none are expected to be invited”. He added that announcing a boycott “of an event for which invitations have neither been extended nor finalised is premature”.
What Sinn Féin said and why it said it.
Earlier in the week, Sinn Féin leader Ms Mary Lou McDonald said no party representatives would attend White House St Patrick’s Day events, citing the situation in Gaza Strip and the need for international attention to remain focused on Palestine.
The party position was framed as a protest and a statement of principle. Sinn Féin also indicated it was working on the assumption an invitation would again be issued, noting that invitations are often made close to the event itself.
It will be remembered that critics have long pointed to Sinn Féin’s past engagement with Hamas, including meetings, as a political vulnerability, even as the party insists its position is rooted in international law and support for Palestinian statehood.
The key update: “not invited” and “not expected”.
The embassy statement, however, cuts across that narrative. The message from Washington, via Dublin, is effectively, there is no invitation to decline.
The ambassador also pointed to what he described as unusually strong demand for access to this year’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations at the White House, presenting it as a sign of the “depth and vitality” of the US–Ireland relationship.
Wider context: who is going and who isn’t.
While Sinn Féin is opting out (and now being told it wasn’t on the invite list anyway), Taoiseach Mr Micheál Martin has confirmed he has accepted an invitation to meet Donald Trump at the White House on St Patrick’s Day (March 17).
Separately, Sinn Féin’s senior leadership in Northern Ireland has also indicated it will not attend: Michelle O’Neill has said she will not go to this year’s White House events, also citing Gaza.
Why it matters
This is now less a simple “boycott” story and more a three-way political dynamic:–
- A party staking out a moral position on Gaza, and seeking to use the St Patrick’s Day spotlight as leverage.
- A US administration controlling access tightly, signalling who is , and isn’t, welcome in a high-profile diplomatic theatre.
- An Irish Government continuing the annual engagement, arguing that the relationship is too economically and strategically important to step away from, even amid controversy.
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