Northern Ireland’s deputy First Minister Emma Little Pengelly has confirmed she will travel to Washington DC next month for St Patrick’s Day.
It comes just days after First Minister Michelle O'Neill said she will not attend the White House along with her Sinn Fein colleagues in “a principled stance against the threat of mass expulsion of the Palestinian people from Gaza”.
On Friday, Sinn Fein announced that the party’s president Mary Lou McDonald and Ms O’Neill, the party’s vice president, would not attend events in Washington, DC as part of an annual tradition for St Patrick’s Day. The party said it was taking a “principled stance” against US President Donald Trump’s “threat of mass expulsion” of Palestinians from Gaza.
It came after Mr Trump suggested Israel would turn Gaza over to the US for redevelopment into the “Riviera of the Middle East” – involving a mass displacement of Palestinians from the territory.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson had previously said his party would be represented in Washington DC and characterised the new Sinn Fein position as “a bit odd”.
Speaking at Stormont on Monday, Ms Little-Pengelly confirmed that she would attend events but did not confirm if she will go to the White House.
The DUP MLA said: “I intend to go to Washington next month. I think it’s an incredibly important time where Northern Ireland has, quite frankly, unprecedented access to the President of the United States, to the administration.
“Of course we engage with the president’s office and of course we have a long and rewarding relationship with the US. It’s a very particular relationship, particularly in relation to foreign direct investment, on trade, in relation to our economy, so of course I will be there standing up for Northern Ireland, making sure that Northern Ireland’s voice is heard in DC that week.
“There are a number of events and I look forward to engaging positively with the administration.”
When asked whether she will meet Donald Trump, she said: “I don’t know. The programme of events is still being worked through but we know that there are a number of key events over the course of that week. It does represent unprecedented access and the opportunity for us in Northern Ireland to have that key role in DC right throughout that week.”
Last year Ms O’Neill and Ms Little-Pengelly travelled together to attend St Patrick’s Day events just weeks after Stormont's powersharing institutions were restored.
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