Taoiseach walking fine line on US/Trump relations

James Cox

Here, we have a look at the issues likely to dominate political discourse in the week to come.

Martin walking fine line on Trump/US relations

Despite the United States' increasingly aggressive stance against the EU, and indeed Ireland, Taoiseach Micheál Martin continues to express a cautious response.

In an interview with The Irish Times this week, Martin stressed that a breakdown in EU/US relationships would mean suffering for everyone.

“But I would be cautious ... standing up sounds great and all of that, but be under no illusion, that if there is an implosion in the US-EU relationship, everybody suffers. And the damage is very serious, because it’s a very critical trading and economic relationship. There’s no getting away from that.

“So it’s all very well talking about anti-coercion measures and all of that – ultimately if you deploy those, well that’s it then. You are in a downward spiral of significant impact on people that we represent. And ultimately, leaders have to represent our people and protect them.”

On US president Donald Trump's threats to take Greenland, and ultimate rowback, Martin said: "The universal lesson in power and politics is there are limits to power.”

Irish and EU regulators aggressively “censored” social media coverage of Ireland’s 2024 general election and the recent presidential election, a panel of US politicians recently claimed in a report.

This just highlights the fraying relationship between the US and the EU, Ireland specifically here.

The staff claimed  European Commission and Irish media regulators in Coimisiún na Meán worked with “biased fact-checkers” and “left-wing” non-governmental organisations before the last two Irish elections.

An Coimisiún Toghcháin and Coimisiún na Meán have not responded but the EU Commission has rebuffed the report.

It remains to be seen whether Martin will be forced to discuss this with Trump at the St Patrick's Day meeting at the White House, but there will be plenty of minefields for the Taoiseach when he meets the US president.

Trump is likely to repeat his criticisms of the EU over issues like Greenland, and EU tech regulation (with Ireland at the centre of this), meaning Martin faces a tricky diplomatic task.

This is likely why he has been careful with his tone, certainly more so than criticisms of the US from opposition politicians, and even Tánaiste Simon Harris.

Social media ban

Social media companies and politicians have clashed over a potential ban on social media use for teenagers.

Representatives for Meta, Google, and TikTok appeared before an Oireachtas communications committee on Wednesday afternoon.

Senator Ronan Mullen asked if the companies have any objection to a ban on children under the age of 16 using social media.

None agreed with such a policy.

TikTok’s Susan Moss said they “don’t agree with blunt instruments” but would consider supporting the “introduction of a measure that is done at a European level”.

Speaking on behalf of Google, Chole Setter said: “We absolutely understand and hear the concerns, but we don’t think that is the right approach.”

David Miles, of Meta, said: “It’s probably too early to say, some of these bans are only just coming into place or being considered.”

The opposition from tech bosses is hardly surprising as momentum grows on the idea of a social media ban for children.

Senator Alison Comyn pointed out that following Australia’s lead that countries including France, Spain, Greece, New Zealand, India, and the United Kingdom are either introducing a ban or debating bringing one in.

Scramblers

A total ban on scramblers in public places will be in place within weeks, the Transport Minister has pledged, following the death of a Dublin teenager.

Darragh O’Brien secured Cabinet approval to prepare for an outright ban on Wednesday, but said work on the legal definition of a scrambler will take a “matter of weeks”.

It comes after 16-year-old Grace Lynch died after an incident involving a scrambler bike in Finglas on January 25th.

GP shortages

While there has been a 10 per cent increase in the number of GPs, the State is "treading water" when it comes to shortages as the population has increased by nine per cent, according to the medical director of the Irish College of GPs (ICGP).

In an interview with BreakingNews.ie, ICGP medical director Dr Diarmuid Quinlan said: "We have made a lot of progress. Where previously I would have referred to it as a crisis, I would probably use less urgent terms now, but we still have a significant shortage in the GP workforce."

There are currently 4,650 GPs in the State, up from 4,200 in 2019, but Dr Quinlan estimates a need for 6,500 or more GPs in Ireland due to current demand and population growth.

"What we need is more GPs. In 2022, we had 4,200 GPs; this year we have 4,650. It's up about 450, which is great, very welcome, so the GP workforce is up about 10 per cent. However, in that time, the population has risen by 9 per cent.

"So we are just about treading water. In comparison, the hospital doctor workforce in that time has increased by almost 40 per cent.

"What do we need? We need well north of 6,000/6,500 GPs."

Abroad

Peter Mandelson “betrayed" his country by leaking information to Jeffrey Epstein, British prime minister Keir Starmer said.

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Starmer said Mandelson had “lied repeatedly” about his relationship with paedophile financier Epstein during the appointment process to the US ambassador role.

The UK prime minister also said he had spoken to Britain's king Charles to have Mandelson removed from the Privy Council.

Trump’s call for Republicans to "nationalise" elections drew pushback on Tuesday from lawmakers, including from a few Republicans, as Democrats voiced fresh concern that he intends ‍to interfere with the November midterms that will determine control of Congress.

In a podcast interview with former FBI deputy director Dan Bongino released on Monday, Trump repeated his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him and said his party should “take over” and "nationalise" ‍voting in at least 15 places, without detailing what he meant.