President Biden’s speech at the Dáil on Thursday has also been branded a “pointless charade” by the party.
The People Before Profit party have announced that they will be boycotting US President Joe Biden’s address to the Oireachtas on Thursday afternoon.
President Biden, who arrived in Ireland on Tuesday evening, is set to meet both President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on Thursday morning before making the short trip to Leinster House.
People Before Profit also today labelled the US President a “warmonger”, with a written statement released to the media describing the 80-year-old politician as “the Commander-in-Chief of a military machine”.
At present, the party have five TD’s as members of the Oireachtas, with Paul Murphy, Bríd Smith, Richard Boyd Barrett, Gino Kenny and Mick Barry all securing seats in the 2020 general election.
In the announcing of their boycott, the group described President Biden’s address as a “pointless charade” and also claimed that the Dáil was being used as a “political soap-box”.
“The Irish government are allowing President Biden use the Dáil as a political soap-box and as part of their on-going campaign to further undermine Ireland’s neutrality and draw Ireland closer to NATO and US foreign policy”.
Mr. Biden is set to commence his address at approximately 3.30pm on Thursday. However, the party have instead urged supporters to attend a rally at the GPO on Wednesday in protest of President Biden’s four-day visit.
Citing the American governments supporting of the Israeli government as their principal issue of concern, Richard Boy Barrett stated that the US President needed to be “forcefully challenged” over what the TD described as America’s “long-standing and unconditional support” of the “apartheid regime in Israel”.
It is customary on such occasions as a visiting dignitary’s address to the Oireachtas, that parties’ leaders are allowed several minutes after speeches to make statements of their own.
People Before Profit have therefore announced their boycott with the caveat that they will attend Biden’s address if there is an opportunity for all parties to make statements after his speech.
People Before Profit also protested during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s address to the Dáil. (Credit: Rolling News)Deputy Barrrett went on to add that “The Irish government are trying to present Joe Biden as some sort of great peacemaker when he is very much the opposite”.
The Dún Laoghaire TD also added the party’s objection to Mr. Biden’s visit over the grounds that it infringed upon Irish neutrality, and “draws us ever closer to NATO”.
This is not the first occasion which People Before Profit have voiced their protest over the visits of world leaders, with TDs not applauding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky following his Oireachtas address last April.
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