THE SDLP IN Northern Ireland has said it will not attend any St Patrick’s Day events in Washington DC this year.

The political party is boycotting the celebrations in the US capital due to US President Donald Trump’s threat to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza.

SDLP leader Claire Hanna said that the party could not “in good conscience” attend parties hosted in DC in the context of Trump’s actions.

Trump has said that he wants to ”take over” Gaza, permanently resettle its residents elsewhere, “level it out” and redevelop it. He has also said that Palestinians would have no right of return to Gaza under his takeover plan. 

The SDLP did not travel to DC for St Patrick’s Day last year either in protest at the US government’s position on Gaza under the Biden administration.

SDLP leader Claire Hanna PA PA

In a statement this afternoon, Hanna said that “last year, the SDLP made the decision not to send anyone to Washington for St Patrick’s Day as we could not endorse the US Government while it armed and supported the bombardment of Gaza”.

“We hope the fragile ceasefire will deliver a lasting peace and the return of hostages to their families, but the rhetoric of Donald Trump, around the displacement and ethnic cleansing of millions of people, is absolutely beyond the pale. We can’t in good conscience attend parties hosted in that context,” she said.

She said that “the SDLP, and the island as a whole, has many friends in America who we will continue to engage with outside the trappings of St Patrick’s Day events. US politicians, investors and the Irish diaspora have been a positive influence here and we will retain links, particularly with those trying to resist and combat the overreach of the current administration”.

“We understand the importance of the relationship between the US and this island, but the politics of the current US administration mean it is essential that we stand up for what is right, and when it comes to Gaza, what is wrong.

“The SDLP’s values are incompatible with what we are seeing and hearing and we won’t be endorsing it on St Patrick’s Day.”

Calls for the Taoiseach and other parties, such as Sinn Féin, to boycott the visit this year have already been made by the Social Democrats and People Before Profit.