Sinn Fin leaders won't attend St. Patrick's event at White House to protest US stance on Gaza
LONDON (AP) — Sinn Féin’s leaders said Friday they will not attend a traditional St. Patrick’s Day event next month at the White House as a protest against President Donald Trump’s stance on Gaza.
The Irish party’s leader Mary Lou McDonald said the Trump administration’s position was “catastrophically” wrong and she was taking “a principled stance against the threat of mass expulsion of the Palestinian people from Gaza.”
She was joined in the boycott by Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill, the party’s vice president, who said she was standing “on the side of humanity.”
The announcement was widely criticized by Sinn Féin’s political opponents.
Irish premier Micheál Martin, who said he hadn’t received a formal invitation to Washington but expects the meeting to happen and plans to attend, accused Sinn Fein of playing politics.
https://apnews.com/article/sinn-fein-leaders-boycott-st-patricks-day-event-at-white-house-gaza-b5e42f58ed0f3781669cf77363b1c7a4