Tracey Magee: The weird phenomenon of St Patrick's at the White House

At this time of the year a weird phenomenon takes place. A mass displacement, if you like. Politicians, north and south of Ireland, migrate in numbers to Washington DC.

The occasion is the St Patrick’s Day celebrations which last a full week. The draw is the opportunity to rub shoulders with the US political elite, including the most powerful figure of all – the American president.

For a brief moment every year all things Irish take centre stage. Green is the only colour to wear and Irish/Northern Irish leaders get to punch above their weight – politically speaking.

For the last few years the party was dampened by Covid. In fact the luck of the Irish totally deserted Micheal Martin when, as Taoiseach, he lost out not once, but twice, to the virus.

In 2021 the celebrations were cancelled due to the pandemic. A year later Mr Martin missed the White House celebrations because he tested positive for Covid-19 the night before the big event.

Instead of schmoozing with Joe Biden in the Oval Office, he had to make do with a virtual meeting from quarantine across the road in Blair House.

Now that Leo Varadkar has taken over the reins as Taoiseach, he will no doubt be looking forward to his moment with President Biden on Friday afternoon.

But he won’t be the only political leader hobnobbing with the most powerful man on the planet that day. The leaders of the five main Stormont parties will also be there.

This year is unusual in that they’ll all be present. While the Sinn Fein and SDLP leaderships make a point of taking part in the annual celebrations stateside, unionist leaders don’t always make the journey. In fact last year neither the DUP or Ulster Unionist leaders made an appearance. But 2023 will be different. It’s a significant year as it marks the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement and the celebrations also take place at a significant moment as yet another agreement has been reached. Undoubtedly the US administration would like to see the parties get behind the Windsor Framework. For his part President Biden was quick to welcome the deal hammered out by the UK and EU.

On the day it was announced the White House issued a statement describing the Framework as ‘an essential step in ensuring the hard earned peace’.

There was also a hint of a strategy that may be employed this week to get the NI parties to support the deal.

The statement pointed out that the Windsor Framework offered ‘economic opportunities created by this stability and certainty.’

It added ‘the United States stands ready to support the region’s vast economic potential.’ It’s clear the US administration would like to see the local parties support the deal and that’s no small amount of pressure.

But the US tactic may not be all stick, the carrot being waved in front NI’s political leaders will be US investment which, even on a relatively small scale, could make a huge difference to a country with a population of less than two million.

On top of that is the growing prospect of a presidential visit. It had been thought Joe Biden would only come to Northern Ireland if devolution is restored.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said the DUP will reach a decision on the Framework by the end of the month, but getting the institutions back before a possible visit in April seems like a stretch.

The Prime Minister told reporters travelling with him to California for a meeting with the President to discuss a defence contract that he plans to invite Mr Biden to Northern Ireland to mark the Good Friday Agreement anniversary.

It seems inconceivable that a leader would make such a public announcement if he didn’t expect a positive response. It seems the Biden administration has concluded marking the achievement of the Good Friday Agreement a quarter of a century ago and the relative peace that came with it, is enough to warrant a visit. It means this week could culminate in the announcement that President Biden will visit Ireland and Northern Ireland will be included in his itinerary. If it happens it will be a big moment. Not for the first time Northern Ireland will punch above its weight in terms of global attention.

When a US President comes to town he brings with him the eyes of the world.

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