Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The world has been rocked over the weekend by events in the US with President Trump throwing around executive orders like confetti - attacking women's rights one day, attacking Mexicans the next and, most notably, introducing what is effectively a Muslim ban. The response of the American people, particularly young people, has been tremendous, to use a Trump phrase. They have been protesting at airports and sending President Trump a message that this is not acceptable. What will be the Taoiseach's response and the response of this Government? They say you do not know history is being made while you are actually going through it but I can tell the Taoiseach that these are historic events that call for more than a strongly worded letter, which seems to be what is being advocated by some parties here today. It calls for much more.

Last summer, the Taoiseach said that President Trump was racist and dangerous. Now it is no longer theoretical or hypothetical. He has passed dangerous and racist laws. Ireland is a very small country in the scheme of things but we have one very powerful weapon at our disposal, which is the power to deprive President Trump of a huge public relations job on 17 March and to prevent the "greenwashing" of his racist actions. No other country has the chance to showcase and send him such a message. It would be rank hypocrisy for the Taoiseach to go to Washington on 17 March to celebrate migration to the US by Irish people when Irish people who are Muslims may not even be allowed entry to the US.

This will probably be Deputy Enda Kenny's last bowl of shamrock event as Taoiseach and I ask him to make it an historic one. The Taoiseach should do something more important than sending a strongly worded letter. Frankly, I do not believe that the Taoiseach will look Donald Trump in the eye and convey the anger of Irish people and most decent people in the world because he has not done it yet, despite saying that he would.

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