Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As a representative of the Irish Government, we do not interfere in the political deliberations within the United States. There is a general election. It is democracy. People will make their choice. We have appreciated President Biden's transatlantic reach and the transformation in that relationship over the last number of years, the commitment to climate change and also the general working in partnership with Europe, which is important in terms of overall security but also for economic relationships, prosperity and so forth, as well as in trying to deal with war and conflict across the world.

The Deputy referenced President Macron. He is articulating a sense of a lack of long-term certainty in US policy more generally and perhaps a growing isolationism within the US political world. That is why he is calling for a stronger European resilience on many fronts as a response to that and that Europe needs to be in a position to stand on its own two feet. That is not going to happen any time soon, if we are honest. The US-Europe partnership is key and essential. Nonetheless, President Macron's points are well-made and we have learned that from Covid right through to the current war in Ukraine and the crisis more generally within Europe because of the stance Russia has taken.

See this speech in context