People Before Profit to boycott US President Joe Biden’s Dáil address as they brand him a ‘warmonger’

• Yesterday 17:30

People Before Profit will now boycott the US President Joe Biden’s joint Oireachtas address on Thursday in protest against the “warmonger”.

The party’s five TDs, Paul Murphy, Bríd Smith, Richard Boyd Barrett, Gino Kenny and Mick Barry said his address is “pointless charade” and the Dáil was being used as a “political soap-box”.

“The Irish government are allowing President Biden use the Dail 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,” the party said in a statement.

President Biden is due to address both the Dáil and Seanad that day at around 3.30pm.

They instead urged supporters to attend a rally at the GPO on Wednesday in protest of President Biden’s three-day visit this week.

Mr Boyd Barrett said the president needs to be “forcefully challenged” over his “long-standing and unconditional support” for the “apartheid regime in Israel and its brutal and criminal treatment of Palestinians” as well as his “pivotal role” in Iraq, the promotion of NATO expansion and the “on-going and blatant double-standards of US foreign policy globally”.

The party said they would attend his joint Oireachtas address only if there is an opportunity for all parties to make statements after his speech.

/

Usually, party leaders are allotted several minutes after special Dáil addresses to make statements.

Mr Boyd Barrett said: “The Irish government are trying to present Joe Biden as some sort of great peacemaker when he is very much the opposite. Biden is one of the foremost and most-long standing supporters of the apartheid regime in Israel, despite their brutal treatment of Palestinians and their on-going illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and policies of ethnic cleansing.

“Tragically, the Irish government are also using the Ukraine crisis as an opportunity to further undermine Irish neutrality and there is no doubt the decision to roll-out the red carpet for Biden and insulate him from any critical questioning in the Dail is part of that campaign to draw us ever closer to NATO.”

PBP TDs have often protested the visits of world leaders, with TDs not applauding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy Oireachtas’ address last April.