The Irish have not taken well to the news that Donald Trump is set to visit them.
On Friday, the White House announced that Trump would be visiting Ireland as part of a European tour to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the armistice that ended the First World War, according to the Huffington Post . The announcement said that Trump’s visit to Ireland would be a step towards renewing “the deep and historic ties between our two nations.”
But as soon as the trip was announced, Irish people started taking to social media to decry the move, with hundreds of people promising to mobilize to give the American president a “welcome party,” or, a far-from-warm welcome in the form of mass protests.
Hours after the White House announcement, #TrumpIsNotWelcomeInIreland began to trend on Twitter as hundreds of Irish citizens explained exactly why they don’t want Trump to set foot on Ireland’s soil.
Some people suggested that nobody should be on the streets when Trump does make his Ireland stop, in a complete reversal to the warmth displayed by Irish people when former American president Barack Obama visited the country back in 2011. On that occasion, Obama visited the village of Moneygall, which was the home of his great-great-great maternal grandfather. To commemorate the occasion, a service area near the village was erected which is now named the Barack Obama Plaza.
Twitter users joked that Donald Trump must make a stop at the Barack Obama Plaza during his visit to Ireland.
Looking forward to Donald Trump’s visit to Barack Obama Plaza.
— Kieran Cunningham (@KCsixtyseven) September 1, 2018
If Trump does visit Ireland in November, I think it would be wonderful if absolutely nobody, and I mean nobody, turned out to see him. Make it the exact opposite of when the Obamas visited.
— . (@LordHumphreys) August 31, 2018
Trump can come to Ireland on two conditions: all official engagements take place in Barack Obama Plaza and all photos are taken right beside the life size cardboard cutout of Barack Obama. Take it or leave it.
— ? amy o’connor ? (@amyohconnor) August 31, 2018
Our country is an open, tolerant and welcoming nation. Donald Trump embodies everything that is the anthithesis to the values of modern Ireland. He is not welcome. Let’s come together to turn out numbers to protest his visit like he wished had attended his inauguration #DumpTrump
— Joe O’Connor (@JoeOC99) August 31, 2018
Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that the Irish Labor Party would be opposing Trump’s visit. Brendan Howlin, the leader of the party, tweeted that although the Irish people have a deep respect for Americans, they couldn’t welcome someone like Trump with his disdain for truth.
“We will always be firm friends of the American people, but Ireland will not welcome a man with Trump’s record of discrimination, sexism and lies.”
An Irish government spokesman, however, said that Ireland’s Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is looking forward to the visit as an “an opportunity to follow up on the issues discussed in the White House in March including migration, trade, climate change and human rights issues.”
Trump’s visit to the UK earlier this year caused a massive furor, with millions of people taking to the streets in London and Dublin, and the same welcome might be in store for Trump when he visits Ireland. It is not known if he plans to make a stop at his Trump International Golf Links Doonbeg in County Clare, but much like the visit to his luxury golf course in Scotland, the visit could be a means for the president to promote his international properties.