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| St. Patrick’s Day Events Highlight an Irish Divide Over Trump | St. Patrick’s Day Events Highlight an Irish Divide Over Trump |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| The prime minister of Ireland, Enda Kenny, will visit the White House on Thursday for a St. Patrick’s Day tradition: the shamrock ceremony, during which he gives the American president a bowl filled with the three-leaf symbol of Ireland. | The prime minister of Ireland, Enda Kenny, will visit the White House on Thursday for a St. Patrick’s Day tradition: the shamrock ceremony, during which he gives the American president a bowl filled with the three-leaf symbol of Ireland. |
| The event is part of a packed day that includes breakfast with the Irish-American vice president, lunch with the Irish-American speaker of the House and — perhaps — a few drinks. | The event is part of a packed day that includes breakfast with the Irish-American vice president, lunch with the Irish-American speaker of the House and — perhaps — a few drinks. |
| The next day, there will be an anti-Trump immigrant solidarity event in New York organized by Aodhan O’Riordain, an Irish senator who made headlines last year when he called the newly elected Donald J. Trump a “fascist” during a speech in Parliament. | The next day, there will be an anti-Trump immigrant solidarity event in New York organized by Aodhan O’Riordain, an Irish senator who made headlines last year when he called the newly elected Donald J. Trump a “fascist” during a speech in Parliament. |
| The event, called an “Irish Stand,” will denounce the new administration, its immigration policies and its many Irish-American members, including Vice President Mike Pence and Mr. Trump’s chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon. | The event, called an “Irish Stand,” will denounce the new administration, its immigration policies and its many Irish-American members, including Vice President Mike Pence and Mr. Trump’s chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon. |
| The dueling events highlight a political divide in Irish America, which includes more than 33 million people, and between Irish America and Ireland itself, an increasingly liberal country of about five million people. Mr. Trump is deeply unpopular there, but Irish-American leaders said he might have drawn just under half of the Irish-American vote, part of a decades-long drift to the right by a once solidly Democratic bloc. | The dueling events highlight a political divide in Irish America, which includes more than 33 million people, and between Irish America and Ireland itself, an increasingly liberal country of about five million people. Mr. Trump is deeply unpopular there, but Irish-American leaders said he might have drawn just under half of the Irish-American vote, part of a decades-long drift to the right by a once solidly Democratic bloc. |
| “There is a very deep political divide on Trump,” said Niall O’Dowd, the publisher of The Irish Voice newspaper, Irish America magazine and IrishCentral.com, which are based in New York. | “There is a very deep political divide on Trump,” said Niall O’Dowd, the publisher of The Irish Voice newspaper, Irish America magazine and IrishCentral.com, which are based in New York. |
| A poll of his readers by the Irish polling group Amarach found that 47 percent said they had voted for Hillary Clinton, and 25 percent for Mr. Trump, with 20 percent declining to say. Mr. O’Dowd said he believed many of the people who did not specify were Trump voters: “It’s a thing a lot of people don’t want to talk about.” | A poll of his readers by the Irish polling group Amarach found that 47 percent said they had voted for Hillary Clinton, and 25 percent for Mr. Trump, with 20 percent declining to say. Mr. O’Dowd said he believed many of the people who did not specify were Trump voters: “It’s a thing a lot of people don’t want to talk about.” |
| Last week, Fintan O’Toole, a columnist for The Irish Times, wrote that responding to the Trump administration was “a moment of truth about what it means to be Irish in the world.” | Last week, Fintan O’Toole, a columnist for The Irish Times, wrote that responding to the Trump administration was “a moment of truth about what it means to be Irish in the world.” |
| “We either wink at a racism that affords most of us the privilege of a white skin,” he wrote. “Or we honour the struggles of so many millions of Irish immigrants to be accepted as equal human beings.” | “We either wink at a racism that affords most of us the privilege of a white skin,” he wrote. “Or we honour the struggles of so many millions of Irish immigrants to be accepted as equal human beings.” |
| Irish-Americans were staunch Democrats for much of the 20th century, backing the New Deal, venerating the Kennedys and supporting President Bill Clinton’s efforts to negotiate peace in Northern Ireland, said Timothy J. Meagher, a historian at the Catholic University of America. Now Irish-Americans are much more mixed. | Irish-Americans were staunch Democrats for much of the 20th century, backing the New Deal, venerating the Kennedys and supporting President Bill Clinton’s efforts to negotiate peace in Northern Ireland, said Timothy J. Meagher, a historian at the Catholic University of America. Now Irish-Americans are much more mixed. |
| Dr. Meagher said Irish-Americans’ shift to the right was driven by reasons both complex and common: Many Catholics opposed abortion and gay marriage; some upwardly mobile Irish-Americans wanted lower taxes; those who were struggling financially were often part of a broader white working-class estrangement from the Democratic Party, in which anxieties about race and immigration played a role. | Dr. Meagher said Irish-Americans’ shift to the right was driven by reasons both complex and common: Many Catholics opposed abortion and gay marriage; some upwardly mobile Irish-Americans wanted lower taxes; those who were struggling financially were often part of a broader white working-class estrangement from the Democratic Party, in which anxieties about race and immigration played a role. |
| “In terms of who would invoke their own past to explain their beliefs, you might get that on either side” of the political divide, Dr. Meagher said. “You see people who might say, ‘My people came here legally,’ even though there weren’t real restrictions on white immigrants coming to the United States until 1924.” | |
| “People say, ‘We obeyed the rules,’” he added. “But the rules weren’t too tough.” | “People say, ‘We obeyed the rules,’” he added. “But the rules weren’t too tough.” |
| Mr. Trump, who owns a golf course in Ireland, has surrounded himself with Irish-Americans. In addition to the vice president and Mr. Bannon, others include Kellyanne Conway, a counselor; Sean Spicer, his press secretary; John F. Kelly, the Homeland Security secretary; and Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser. | Mr. Trump, who owns a golf course in Ireland, has surrounded himself with Irish-Americans. In addition to the vice president and Mr. Bannon, others include Kellyanne Conway, a counselor; Sean Spicer, his press secretary; John F. Kelly, the Homeland Security secretary; and Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser. |
| Some leading Republicans, like Mr. Pence and Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, identify strongly as Irish-American. During a St. Patrick’s Day event last year, Mr. Ryan spoke about visiting his Irish relatives in the village his ancestors left in the 19th century. “I’ve always taken a special pride in my Irish roots,” he said. | Some leading Republicans, like Mr. Pence and Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, identify strongly as Irish-American. During a St. Patrick’s Day event last year, Mr. Ryan spoke about visiting his Irish relatives in the village his ancestors left in the 19th century. “I’ve always taken a special pride in my Irish roots,” he said. |
| Ted Smyth, a former Irish diplomat and the vice president of Glucksman Ireland House at New York University, said he found it difficult to reconcile an embrace of Irishness with support for Mr. Trump’s immigration policies. | Ted Smyth, a former Irish diplomat and the vice president of Glucksman Ireland House at New York University, said he found it difficult to reconcile an embrace of Irishness with support for Mr. Trump’s immigration policies. |
| “The hope is that when they get to power that they’d remember where they came from and would want to look out for the next generation of immigrants,” Mr. Smyth said. But, he added, “hope springs eternal.” | “The hope is that when they get to power that they’d remember where they came from and would want to look out for the next generation of immigrants,” Mr. Smyth said. But, he added, “hope springs eternal.” |
| Mr. O’Riordain is less optimistic. He said Mr. Trump’s Irish-American supporters had betrayed their roots and has compared them to Irish-American slaveholders in the South who were admonished by the 19th-century Irish leader Daniel O’Connell. | Mr. O’Riordain is less optimistic. He said Mr. Trump’s Irish-American supporters had betrayed their roots and has compared them to Irish-American slaveholders in the South who were admonished by the 19th-century Irish leader Daniel O’Connell. |
| “We faced every kind of negative stereotype you can think of,” Mr. O’Riordain said. “For these people now to forget all that and to think of the Irish immigrant experience as some kind of white Christian success story is an outrage.” | “We faced every kind of negative stereotype you can think of,” Mr. O’Riordain said. “For these people now to forget all that and to think of the Irish immigrant experience as some kind of white Christian success story is an outrage.” |
| Mr. Kenny’s visit to the White House comes as the Trump administration faces a legal battle over its attempt to bar entry to residents of six predominantly Muslim countries. | Mr. Kenny’s visit to the White House comes as the Trump administration faces a legal battle over its attempt to bar entry to residents of six predominantly Muslim countries. |
| That has made this year’s White House shamrock ceremony controversial in Ireland, where almost 40,000 people signed a petition demanding that Mr. Kenny cancel it, an effort endorsed by Martin O’Malley, a former Maryland governor and Democratic presidential candidate. But the event has gone ahead. | That has made this year’s White House shamrock ceremony controversial in Ireland, where almost 40,000 people signed a petition demanding that Mr. Kenny cancel it, an effort endorsed by Martin O’Malley, a former Maryland governor and Democratic presidential candidate. But the event has gone ahead. |
| Mr. Kenny drew further criticism — including from the mayor of Boston — for saying he would lobby Mr. Trump to legalize the status of the estimated 50,000 Irish citizens living illegally in the United States. That number represents about 1 percent of Ireland’s population. | Mr. Kenny drew further criticism — including from the mayor of Boston — for saying he would lobby Mr. Trump to legalize the status of the estimated 50,000 Irish citizens living illegally in the United States. That number represents about 1 percent of Ireland’s population. |
| “There’s this incredibly racist conversation about ‘maybe we should let these ones stay, they’re good, maybe we can sort them out,’” said Maeve Higgins, who hosts a podcast on immigration. She said American politics reminded her of school lessons about Ireland’s 19th-century famine and the wave of emigrants it produced. | “There’s this incredibly racist conversation about ‘maybe we should let these ones stay, they’re good, maybe we can sort them out,’” said Maeve Higgins, who hosts a podcast on immigration. She said American politics reminded her of school lessons about Ireland’s 19th-century famine and the wave of emigrants it produced. |
| “When I see these Irish names in the White House and I see what they’re doing to refugees, my mind goes straight to the coffin ships,” she said. “That was us 100 years ago on the boats, drowning. What’s the difference, that these people are brown and black?" | “When I see these Irish names in the White House and I see what they’re doing to refugees, my mind goes straight to the coffin ships,” she said. “That was us 100 years ago on the boats, drowning. What’s the difference, that these people are brown and black?" |
| She said she was opposed to Mr. Kenny’s White House visit. “It sounds so funny to be like: ‘Don’t give him a bowl of shamrocks! Put down that bowl of shamrocks!’” she said. “But it’s come to that.” | She said she was opposed to Mr. Kenny’s White House visit. “It sounds so funny to be like: ‘Don’t give him a bowl of shamrocks! Put down that bowl of shamrocks!’” she said. “But it’s come to that.” |