Martin more likely to take Merz approach to Trump than Sanchez stand

James Cox

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

Martin's White House visit gets even more complicated

March 17th was always going to be difficult for Taoiseach Micheál Martin and it has only become more complicated after the United States launched a war against Iran.

Meeting with US president Donald Trump is a tricky prospect for even the most senior world leaders.

This was once again in the spotlight recently as German chancellor Friedrich Merz faced an awkward White House encounter with Trump.

As the president launched into tirade after tirade against the European Union and German allies, Merz sat stony faced without really challenging Trump.

He did refrain from praising his counterpart as he had done on a previous visit to Washington.

Martin is unlikely to challenge Trump, it's not his style, but a muted reaction like Merz will probably be his best bet.

Trump is likely to air his grievances with Spain once again.

Led by prime minister Pedro Sanchez, Spain has emphasised the illegality of the US war on Iran. They then went further by barring the American military from launching attacks out of Spanish bases.

Trump responded during his meeting with Merz. "We're going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don't want anything to do with Spain," he said.

While Martin's diplomacy will  be on display, but at home politicians are not shy about speaking out about the US.

Perhaps with the benefit of having the luxury of knowing they will not be facing Trump, the likes of Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns have taken strong stances in encouraging the Taoiseach to do exactly that.

Former ceann comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl also warned Martin not to invite Trump to address the Oireachtas during his likely visit to Ireland this year.

Fuel prices

There has been an “avalanche” of “outrageous” fuel price rises across Ireland amid the Middle East conflict, the Dáil has heard.

Tánaiste and finance minister Simon Harris, urged people to send examples they have of so-called “price gouging” to the state competition watchdog.

Reports of dramatic increases in fuel costs, such as home heating oil and motor fuel, have been sent to TDs who have raised concerns about the price hikes.

The government has said that there should be no increase at the forecourts due to the conflict in the Middle East, as there would be a weeks-long lag before prices would be impacted.

Abroad

Globally, Iran is the big story.

Iran launched a new wave of attacks at Israeli and American bases on Thursday and threatened that the US would “bitterly regret” torpedoing an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean.