SINN FÉIN VICE-PRESIDENT and Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said she will not oppose Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s trip to Washington for St Patrick’s day because it’s a “different offering” for him.

Last month, Sinn Féin announced that it will not participate in any White House events for St Patrick’s Day this year.

Leader Mary Lou McDonald said the party had made the decision “as a principled stance against the threat of mass expulsion of the Palestinian people from Gaza”.

However, McDonald said she “absolutely believes” Taoiseach Micheál Martin should travel to Washington and to the White House, and urged him “not to equivocate” on the issue of Gaza.  

Speaking in the Stormont Assembly chamber this afternoon, O’Neill was asked by People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll if she would “join the call to say that the Taoiseach and Tánaiste should not go to the White House for St Patrick’s Day”.

Last week, Martin accepted a formal invitation from US President Donald Trump to visit the White House for the annual St Patrick’s Day bilateral meeting. 

O’Neill said that the visit is a “different offering” for the Taoiseach.

“The Taoiseach is uniquely in a position where he will have the opportunity to engage directly with the US president,” said O’Neill, “and that’s an opportunity he has to take, because only he will have that opportunity to have that one-on-one time.”

O’Neill added that she “hopes” Martin will “take the opportunity to drive home the depth of feeling that’s felt right across Ireland about what’s happening in Palestine”.

She further remarked: “The recent commentary by the US administration, in particular in terms of the taking of Palestinian lands, the removal of the Palestinian people off their lands, the fact that they have moved away from a two-state solution, is something that he needs to be very firm on in terms of any engagement with the US president.”

At a press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month, Trump said he wants to “take over” Gaza, permanently resettle its residents elsewhere, “level it out” and redevelop it.

Meanwhile, O’Neill said the decision not to visit Washington was not one taken lightly.

She added that she didn’t regret visiting the White House last year and said: “It’s important that, at moments in time, we take our opportunity to make a stance and this was that time.

“The fundamental difference is that the US administration has now moved away from what was a united, two-state solution, which we all want to see – peace and security for the Palestinians, but peace and security for the Israelis.

“Unfortunately, that is not the view of this US administration.

“They have taken the decision to move towards the mass expulsion of the Palestinian people.

“They’ve taken a decision to seize Palestinian lands and have taken a decision to move away from that united position of a two-state solution.”

She said the decision was “not about politics” but about “humanity and doing the right thing”.

Deputy first minister and DUP MLA Emma Little-Pengelly will travel to Washington and O’Neill said she is “comfortable with the fact” that Little-Pengelly will “travel to be part of the White House reception and other events this year”.

Elsewhere, O’Neill was asked if the move would harm relations with the US and foreign direct investment.

“I can take the principled stance that I believe in, but I also believe very strongly in our strong roots with the US,” said O’Neill.

O’Neill noted that both she and Little-Pengelly would be in North Carolina in the US next week on an “economic mission” with the NI Chamber of Commerce’s trade delegation.

She added that Stormont’s economy minister, Sinn Féin MLA Caoimhe Archibald, will travel to Boston and New York with Invest NI to “drum up trade and say that we’re very much open for business”.

“We can continue to further our links, whilst also, on this occasion, taking the principled position that I have taken,” said O’Neill.