In Philly for St. Paddy’s, the Irish prime minister said Iran is the ‘big issue’ with Trump

Visiting Philadelphia ahead of a Tuesday Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump, Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Micheál Martin said the war in Iran is the “big issue” he plans to discuss with the president.

“The big issue right now is the war in Iran and the war in the Middle East more generally,” Martin said, after laying a wreath at the Irish War Memorial in Society Hill. “We want a de-escalation. We want this brought to a conclusion very, very quickly. We want civilian lives protected.”

Often a festive occasion, marked by friendly toasts and shamrocks, the Irish prime minister’s annual St. Patrick’s Day trip to the White House is expected by experts to be a more strained affair this year. Many Irish people have expressed hope Martin will confront Trump on issues like Iran, immigration, and tariffs. Some in Ireland had called for Martin to cancel his trip in protest of the war, especially after a mistaken missile strike on a school in Iran that the United States is believed to be responsible for.

In Philadelphia, where Martin is scheduled to attend the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Sunday, he denounced Iran’s “very “repressive regime.”

“Iran has murdered thousands of their own citizens, who took to the streets to seek freedom of speech and a democratic way of life,” he told reporters, according to audio of the event. “We will be articulating the need for the peaceful resolution of the issues.”

Earlier in the day, Martin, visited the top of the Rocky steps. While walking the steps, and declining to raise his arms in the style of Philly’s favorite fictional southpaw, Martin spoke to journalists about his love of boxing legend Muhammad Ali — and the career of his own father, Paddy, a former amateur boxer in Ireland.

At Villanova, Martin spoke at an event organized for the university’s Center for Irish Studies - the longest running Irish studies program in the U.S. He had chosen Philadelphia as the first stop on his tour to honor America’s birthplace as the nation prepares for its 250th anniversary.

“The Declaration of Independence was a major milestone for the United States of America, yet one shaped by so many Irish people,” he said. “It is no accident that in this, the 250th year since its signing, it is in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that I begin my St. Patricks’ Day visit.”

Revolutionary-era Irish immigrants left their mark in their fight for liberty, especially in Pennsylvania, he said.

“They found opportunity, they found religious tolerance,” he said. “And before long, many of them, being Irish, found revolution here in the United States.”

Founded in 1842, by Irish friars of the Order of St. Augustine as a school for Irish immigrants, Villanova shares a particularly deep connection, Martin said. America’s current ambassador to Ireland, Ed Walsh, attended Villanova, where the Irish studies program has for years fostered a steady exchange of scholars and athletes between the nations, an informal relationship known as the “Irish Pipeline.”

Martin marked the recent death of one of the most famous of those Irish athletes, runner Ron Delaney, who as a Villanova student won the Olympic gold for Ireland in 1956. No Irish athlete has won a gold medal in track and field.

The student sports “ties” form an “important part of that extraordinarily rich connection that is the Irish American relationship,” Martin said. “Sport is a transformational and unifying force.”

Noting the coming national milestone, Martin said it was the depth of the Irish and American bond that would keep the two countries close, even amid “monumental challenges.”

“It should direct us to work together on a shared and exciting future for Ireland, for our relationship with the United States of America, and for the world we share,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, U.S. Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, (D. Pa.) who represents Delaware County and parts of Montgomery County and Philadelphia, said that America could learn from Ireland’s example on the world stage.

“This is a time when the U.S. may be able to learn from Ireland’s embrace of soft power, the power of alliances and the fealty to values,” she said. “We see Ireland forging meaningful connections with the Irish diaspora abroad, and committing to diplomacy and peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts. [That] leadership is something we can learn from and admire in these troubled times.”