One of the most difficult things about the Trump presidency is not talking about it.
There are many days when I vow to simply turn off the telly, snap the laptop shut and try to focus on my breathing.
But inevitably you get drawn back in because, well, the freak show is hard to take your eyes off, and the actions are so very consequential.
Even this week, this most Irish of weeks, we have been dragged into the swamp of Trump, Musk and their phalanx of geopolitical trolls.
There was that painfully awkward White House meeting between Trump and Micheál Martin: ‘This beautiful island of five million people has got the entire US pharmaceutical industry in its grasp,’ Trump declared, before adding that classic passive-aggressive line about not wanting to ‘hurt Ireland’ while insisting on ‘fairness.’
Martin sat there hunched up, a sure sign that his body was in fight-or-flight mode, simply hoping that the Donald would shut his cake hole soon and the whole thing would be over before Ireland was annexed live on Fox News.
Martin had little choice, many say, in avoiding awkward topics like war in Gaza and America’s abandonment of European democracy in Ukraine, and listening to a Trump tirade about the EU and red tape.
But this is not the stance taken by previous leaders – both Enda Kenny and Leo Varadkar made sure to make points about our values in relation to immigration in previous meetings.
With the humiliation and bullying of Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last week, Irish officials did not want Ireland to be the sacrificial lamb representing all that Trump and his cronies hate about the European Union.
So a ‘softer’ diplomatic line was taken which now looks closer to obsequious with the passing of days.
The Taoiseach’s visit became all the more disappointing days later when Trump welcomed that infamous mixed martial artist to the White House.
Conor McGregor even had the cheek to speak for Irish people.
A moment of geopolitical trolling and disrespect not seen in my lifetime, but not one we should be in the least bit surprised about given all the other abhorrent workings of the current Republican administration.
But shocking all the same. And there they were, Trump and McGregor, on the front page of all our news websites on the evening of our national day, crowing about immigrants.
With the country full of American visitors this week, many make the point that we shouldn’t blame them for the actions of their administration.
I have spent many wonderful times in the USA and I would normally agree. But my patience has now run out.
Because you can certainly blame nearly half of the Americans for his odious regime, seeing as they voted for him and, let’s be honest, some of those people are here this week calling themselves Irish. As Trump himself might say – kinda sad.
Time to grow up, Ireland
IN the past, we would have felt far distant from these worrying developments but not so much now, in this ultra-connected world.
Just a ten-minute drive from Kinsale, Eli Lilly’s sprawling campus produces ingredients for blockbuster drugs like Mounjaro, employing 1,200 people and driving demand for everything from housing to school places.
It’s exactly the kind of development Trump thinks should never have left American shores.
We also very recently had Russian ships doing military exercises off of our coastline, and with fears that Russia could launch a hybrid war against Europe in the coming years, our gas lines and other vital interconnectors suddenly look very important and very vulnerable.
All of this has had me late-night googling European and Russian military readiness which, I’ll be honest with you folks, is not a good use of my time.
We’ve grown comfortable, perhaps too comfortable, in our economic strategies and in our defence dependency.
While Sweden is reintroducing national service and Finland is bolstering its defences, we’re still relying on the same playbook we’ve been running since the days of TK Whitaker.
It might be time to grow up.
Flat out with the rugby
IT’S been a week of hangovers and speaking of which, Ireland’s Six Nations campaign came to a halt with a small fart and a whimper in Rome.
After the highs of recent championships, we ended up flat in the middle of the table, putting in performances as underwhelming as our government’s housing policies.
The Wales match earlier epitomised our campaign – flashes of brilliance undermined by worrying lapses.
What started with a statement win against France dissolved into a mixed bag of performances that left fans scratching their heads and lots of shoe prints on the wall behind my telly.
Perhaps there’s a lesson there as we face into these economic headwinds.
Past performance is no guarantee of future success, whether you’re playing rugby or building an economy dependent on American multinationals.
But at least we have control over how we choose to play, how we carry ourselves in the world and what strategy to pursue next.
The rugby team has a chance to go back to the drawing board and dream up a new way to play. We might have to do the same thing as a country.
