Taoiseach to raise issue of undocumented Irish and vaccines during chat with Joe Biden

The Taoiseach will raise the issue of Irish illegals in the US when he speaks to President Joe Biden today – as well as talking around the subject of vaccines, without actually asking for any.

Diplomacy and protocol does not allow Micheál Martin to ask for additional vaccine supplies for Ireland, but he will be looking for US solidarity with Ireland on issues that might arise from Brexit on the Northern Ireland protocol.

But he will discreetly enquire as to a widening of the E3 visa programme, which Australia secured for its citizens before the Trump portcullis came down. It would offer a path to long-term residency and ultimately US citizenship.

“I think the fundamental aspect of the meeting is to strengthen and deepen even further the bilateral relationship between Ireland and the United States. That is critical,” the Taoiseach said at Government buildings.

“There’s an economic dimension and a cultural dimension to that. And given the President’s warm affection for Ireland, I think we can look forward to a nurturing of that, as well as in the context of the EU-US relationship, and the role that Ireland can play.”

But Covid-19 “will be obviously a theme of tomorrow’s discussions, and with Brexit”, the Taoiseach said.

“We will update the President on the outworkings of Brexit, and thank him for the work he’s been doing in his consistent support for Ireland in relation to peace on the island, and in relation to the Brexit agreement itself.”

Asked about the Irish undocumented, who are thought to number between 30,000 and 50,000, Mr Martin confirmed he will be raising the issue in this afternoon’s link-up between Dublin and the White House, “because it’s been a long-standing issue”.

Ireland would continue the pursuit of the E3 visa, and will ask the President for an update, he said.

Mr Martin is also due to speak today to Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with the Friends of Ireland caucus. He has already spoken to its leader, Ritchie Neal, to mark the 40th anniversary of the formation of the bipartisan group on Capitol Hill.

Mr Martin said he was looking forward to meeting the President and to having a discussion about Covid-19.

“The most important issue in relation to vaccines is open supply chains. In my discussions over the last two days, which involved some of the vaccine companies, it has emerged as a critical issue.

“They model their vaccine production and distribution as an integrated global supply chain. Different component parts of vaccine production come from different parts of the world. It is critical that protectionism doesn’t take hold everywhere in relation to this. That’s the key issue – we all lose if that happens.

“I will be obviously in discussions with the President on the broader issue of not just Covid, but the whole idea of vaccine production, distribution, and the raw materials necessary to produce a vaccine,” Mr Martin said. “If you think about it, Pfizer-BioNTech is the classic embodiment of EU-US collaboration, with a major US manufacturer producing a very effective and safe vaccine. It’s all about collaboration in the modern world.

“No country is an island, there’s an interdependency between us.”

 

 

Irish Independent