Irish leader positive for COVID before St. Patrick’s Day with Biden

WASHINGTON — When Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin examined optimistic for COVID-19 on Wednesday, he was already celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with President Joe Biden in Washington, D.C.

Martin, Eire’s chief, obtained his optimistic analysis at a gala for the Eire Funds, an annual dinner that promotes stronger ties between the U.S. and Eire.

Biden, who spoke on the occasion, was not in shut contact with Martin, White Home spokesman Chris Meagher stated. It stays unclear how the optimistic analysis will have an effect on the White Home’s plans for St. Patrick’s Day.

The 2 leaders had been set to debate deepening ties between the U.S. and Eire in addition to presenting a united response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, in keeping with the White Home.

“They may also discuss a variety of world points and shared priorities, together with combatting the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, strengthening world well being safety, tackling the local weather disaster, and dealing collectively on the United Nations Safety Council,” a White Home assertion reads.

Final yr, the 2 leaders held a digital assembly on St. Patrick’s Day because of the COVID-19 pandemic the place Biden recommitted the U.S. to the Good Friday Accord, which introduced peace to the island of Eire after a long time of battle between Eire and the UK.

The accord has been underneath rising stress since the UK, and consequently Northern Eire, formally left the European Union in 2020.

Biden, who’s Irish-American, has lengthy been a proponent for stronger U.S.-Eire ties. In 2016, he visited the nation in “a visit I’ll at all times bear in mind” he remarked at the Irelands Fund occasion.

Different former presidents with Irish roots embody John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Invoice Clinton and Barack Obama.

Whereas the White Home will little question regulate its schedule of in-person occasions to account for Martin’s analysis, Biden’s assist for Eire was unfazed on Wednesday night.

“It’s a certitude constructed on each our nations that we’ve at all times shared a deep spark.  Every thing between us runs deep – the literature, the poetry, the unhappiness, the enjoyment, however, most of all, our resilience,” Biden stated on the gala.

“Regardless of every little thing, we’ve by no means stopped being dreamers. And I believe we Irish are the one folks on this planet who truly are nostalgic for the long run,” Biden continued.

The Related Press contributed to this report.

Comply with Matthew Brown on-line @mrbrownsir.