Nostalgia, historical attachment and economic pragmatism are the chief binds in the US-Irish relationship.
So writes our Washington Correspondent Keith Duggan as Taoiseach Simon Harris travels to the US capital after that surprise invite extended by President Joe Biden last month.
With Biden in the last few months of his presidency it must have seemed like a nice idea to celebrate a centenary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Ireland as well as the president’s Irish roots – whatever Boris Johnson may say.
However, the two-day programme to mark that centenary has been reduced in acknowledgement of the threat presented by Hurricane Milton which is bearing down on Florida today.
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This has led to the cancellation of a planned gathering in the White House Rose Garden for over 300 guests.
Instead, Harris and Biden will hold a low-key 30-minute scheduled conversation in the Oval Office.
The Taoiseach will also have other engagements, including a meeting with the Friends of Ireland caucus and USAID Administrator Samantha Power as well as a visit to Georgetown university.
In advance of the visit, Harris said the US was the first country to recognise Ireland diplomatically, adding that he welcomes the opportunity to discuss “the many challenges we face, including the desperate situation in Gaza and the wider Middle East”.
As Duggan notes it is not even seven months ago that Harris’s predecessor Leo Varadkar was at the White House for the annual St Patrick’s Day celebrations.
It is something of a diplomatic coup to have a second Oval Office engagement within the same year.
Last time Varadkar announced he was resigning as Taoiseach just two days after his return from Washington.
Will we see Harris pull something similarly unexpected and call an early general election within days?
It’s still a bit early yet perhaps, but that’s unlikley to stop the relentless Leinster House rumour mill.
Proposals to end accommodation for Ukrainian refugees
Our lead story today, by Jack Horgan-Jones, outlines how new arrivals from Ukraine would not be offered accommodation from next March, under proposals being developed by senior Government officials.
The measure is one of a range being explored as the State tries to reduce the numbers of Ukrainians living in publicly funded accommodation over the coming months.
It is understood that other options being considered by officials include the introduction of a new “maximum stay” rule focused on exiting Ukrainians who have been in State accommodation for the longest time first.
The measures under consideration have been discussed by senior officials but have not yet been widely circulated among Ministers and have not been discussed by the Cabinet committee on Ukraine, which deals with accommodation for asylum seekers and refugees.
The number of Ukrainians in accommodation supported by the Department of Integration has fallen significantly in recent months to 35,833, compared with 58,830 a year ago.
Ukrainians automatically benefit from a temporary protection directive which allows them to live and work in the European Union. This directive is due to end in March 2026, and preparations are under way for this at official level.
The Government has taken a range of steps to bring it in line with other countries’ offering to Ukrainians in recent months, including cutting welfare payments and limiting accommodation to 90 days for new arrivals.
Best Reads
Miriam Lord has a look at the ‘Agent Cobalt’ saga and how the revelation that a member of the Oireachtas has allegedly been recruited as a Russian secret agent is no laughing matter.
She writes: “This shocking turn of events was greeted with the utmost gravity by TDs and senators upon their return to Leinster House on Tuesday. Some were so shaken by the news they took to hailing colleagues in the corridors as “comrade” while others were seen whispering extravagantly into their shirt cuffs in the vicinity of the chamber.”
Jack Horgan-Jones details how a Fine Gael councillor has been referred to the party’s disciplinary process after saying the US economy is ‘ruled by the Jews, by Israel’
The controversy over Sinn Féin’s level of knowledge about references given by two former senior officials to an ex-colleague who has been convicted of child sex offences rumbles on. Jennifer Bray, Freya McClements and Pat Leahy have all the latest here.
The Government has welcomed confirmation that troops from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are no longer operating in an area of Lebanon close to Irish peacekeepers. Mark Hilliard and Pat Leahy report.
Elsewhere on the front page Conor Lally outlines how the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) is holding seized cryptocurrency worth almost €350 million that is it is unable to access.
Kitty Holland has a story on how fluent Irish requirement ‘a barrier’ to more working-class young people becoming teachers.
On the opinion pages Kathy Sheridan writes that child benefit works as intended - and not just by buying votes for politicians.
Playbook
The Dáil kicks off with an opportunity for TDs to raise “Topical Issues” at 9:10am.
The Rural Independent Group have a private members bill aimed at removing what they argue is the “obstructive role” of An Taisce, the National Trust for Ireland, in rural development. It is debated from 9:58am.
Leaders’ Questions is at noon.
Government Business in the afternoon, from 2.04pm, includes the legislation bringing in the €250 worth of electricity credits for households announced in the Budget.
The mammoth 700-page plus Planning and Development Bill 2023 is back in the Dáil following proposed amendments in the Seanad with he debate due to start at 6.58pm. The Bill – aimed at reforms to Ireland’s planning system - is one that the Government believes it is imperative to pass before a general election is called.
The weekly Dáil votes are at 11pm.
The Seanad will consider the Maternity Protection Bill 2024 from 2pm. The legislation is designed to ensure that new mothers who become seriously ill do not miss out on their maternity leave entitlements. It will also provide for maternity leave for Oireachtas members.
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly is before the Committee on Health to be quizzed on the National Children’s Hospital amid continued delays to its completion and the huge sums being expended on it. The meeting begins at 9:30am.
At 1pm the Committee on Media will begin detailed scrutiny of the Broadcasting Amendment Bill 2023 put forward by Green Party TD Patrick Costello on the public availability of RTÉ archives. Representatives of RTÉ will be present as will officials from the Department of Tourism and Media.
Irish Rail will be before the Committee on Transport at 1.30pm to be quizzed on their, now abandoned, timetable changes that saw disruption to commuters travelling into Dublin city in recent weeks.
The full Dáil, Seanad and Committee schedules can be found here.
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