Gavan Reilly: St Patrick’s Day is more than just a shamrock shakedown

In the debate around whether the Taoiseach should go to Washington next month, there are two big misconceptions.

The first is that there’s a standing invite every year, and that the Irish government needs only to pick up the phone and sort out the date and time for the annual meeting. This is not the case, even if the president is an enthusiastic embracer of the meeting (which they’re often not: I witnessed Barack Obama’s seventh St Patrick’s Day, and psychologically he had already checked out).

The true magnificence of the St Patrick’s Day meeting is that it is not an automatic annual event. Around November or December every year the team in the Irish embassy in Washington starts to get cracking, with a soft diplomatic push making clear to the White House that an invitation would be appreciated and very kindly accepted. Sometimes, in the case of a Biden White House, it’s an easy sell.

But it’s not always enthusiastic; often the White House will feel like they have to follow through because failure would risk the ire of the Irish lobby on Capitol Hill (which is not nearly as powerful or energetic as it used to be; we have long been superseded by the Latino and African-American lobbies) and it’s simply less hassle to drop it.

That diplomatic programme becomes even harder when there’s a change of tenant in the White House; American law forbids politicians from officially negotiating with foreign governments until they have formally taken office, and even if all the choreography is put in place beforehand, a St Patrick’s Day appointment doesn’t neatly fit into the busy agenda of a new commander-in-chief. Even if it’s a Mayoman, and especially if there’s a pandemic.

There are other fringe concerns too, around scheduling. In recent years the day has become more of a tour; there are now lunches on Capitol Hill (one of only two occasions all year when the President makes the trip) and communal breakfasts with the Vice President who tends to be fairly busy too. Usually, the night before his White House engagements, the Taoiseach will be a guest of honour at the Ireland Funds’ annual gala dinner in Washington, a $1,000-a-plate event raising money for reconciliation projects in the North - again, an event which needs to be incorporated into the Taoiseach’s schedule, but not necessarily a concern of the White House.

The second misconception is that it’s just a jolly. It is not that. What is depicted only barely touches the surface of what happens: the meeting is rarely a one-on-one event, but rather a plenary meeting with a whole cabal of senior ministers and officials on both sides. Donald Trump was often joined by Mike Pence and at least two cabinet secretaries - partly as babysitters, partly for genuine engagement. Each American in the room must then be shadowed by an Irish counterpart, and as the meeting progresses they break off in pairs for fringe bilateral meetings of their own. In that sense it’s more like a full summit between Ireland and the US and we get one every year.

The Taoiseach is damned if he goes, and damned if he doesn’t. In that case, he’s better off going and doing the country’s business, than being criticised for saying at home and achieving nothing.