Good morning.
How harsh a world that is being shaped just now was illustrated by the overnight news that US president Donald Trump has suspended military aid to Ukraine.
With attitudes among Trump’s administration hardening towards Kyiv and its embattled president Volodymyr Zelenskiy – as well as the decision by Israel to halt humanitarian aid to Gaza amid doubts that it is willing to proceed to negotiations or the second phase of the ceasefire there – it brings into focus the difficult political tightrope facing Taoiseach Micheál Martin when he meets Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on March 12th, a week from today.
Have your say: How should Taoiseach Micheál Martin approach his US visit?
Our lead story this morning reports on what amounts to Trump’s response after the incendiary row between him and Zelenskiy last Friday.
“The president has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution,” said an official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
It comes only hours after Trump berated European leaders for supporting Zelenskiy. This was triggered by his anger over a statement by the Ukrainian leader that the end of the war could be a long way away.
Writing on his own social media platform Truth Social, the US president said: “This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer! It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing,” Trump wrote on social media on Monday, a day after the Ukrainian leader discussed possible peace efforts with 18 mostly European counterparts in London.
“Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskiy, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the US – Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?” Trump added.
It’s too hard to segue into domestic Irish political stories as all are a response – in a generalised way – to the churn that is happening globally.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris will ask Cabinet for permission to essentially bring to an end the triple-lock mechanism that has governed the deployment of Irish military personnel overseas for more than 20 years. The move has been flagged since the weekend and will raise questions about Ireland’s policy of military neutrality. The Government has argued that the UN Security Council is in a permanent state of deadlock (no UN mission has been sanctioned since 2014) and something needed to be done to return control to the Irish State over the deployment abroad of its defence forces. Here is the background to this decision.
The Government is also to give the go-ahead for a controversial Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in Ireland. This policy provided big difficulty in the previous government, where it was fiercely opposed by many Green Party TDs. Then minister for energy Eamon Ryan commissioned a report which was published towards the end of its term. What is proposed is a floating terminal off the coast which would store LNG for use in emergency situations. The Government will argue that such reserves are vital in the event of shock events, which are not such rare occurrences nowadays.
Cormac McQuinn is reporting on this and other issues in his Cabinet preview. He also reports that non-marital survivors will be entitled to get widows and widowers pensions for the first time after the death of their partners under proposals being brought to Cabinet by Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary.
A proposal to provide €100 million worth of non-lethal aid to Ukraine is also expected to be discussed.
Best Reads
Fintan O’Toole does not hold back in exploding some of the self-serving myths surrounding Trump.
Jack White reports that the incorrigible Peter Casey is going to have another tilt at running for president saying he will be better prepared this time. He is ready to pony up €750,000 for his campaign which will include a commitment that Ireland will not be “bullied by the EU”.
Seanín Graham reports that for the first time in more than 10 years, the Northern Ireland Executive has published a programme for Government. Its main targets include tackling the North’s spiralling waiting lists by treating an additional 70,000 patients by 2027 – the end of the current Assembly mandate – and building more than 5,000 new social homes. There are no detailed costings set out in the 100-page document on how those targets will be achieved.
Another stark warning. This time from a joint report from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and the Climate Change Advisory Council which estimates that if the State continues with its existing climate policies and takes no further action, it could be hit with fines or costs of between €8 billion and €26 billion.
The report makes for desultory reading and points out that Ireland has the biggest distance to make of all EU countries in reaching its target of a 51 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030.
Playbook
There are no committees as yet and they are likely to be selected towards the end of March.
The Cabinet is meeting this morning. Details of what is being discussed is reported above.
Dáil:
- 2pm: Leaders’ Questions.
- 2.34pm: Order of Business
- 3.04pm: Taoiseach’s Questions
- 3.49pm: Statements re Policing and Community Safety
- 5.49pm: Private Members’ Business (Sinn Féin): Motion re Guaranteeing the Right to Education in Irish for All
- 7.49pm: Parliamentary Questions: Oral – Minister for Transport
- 10.07pm: Dáil adjourns
Seanad:
- 2.30pm: Commencement Matters
- 4pm: Order of Business
- 5.15pm: Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Accidents) Bill 2024 – Second Stage
- 6.45pm: Adjournment
Sign up for Politics push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up for the Inside Politics newsletter to get our politics team’s take direct to your inbox.
