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The incoming Trump administration does not pose an economic challenge for Ireland so great that cannot be managed, Mary Lou McDonald said, amid fears of what the Taoiseach has called “transatlantic trade shocks”.
In her first comments on Donald Trump’s victory, Ms McDonald said that, during his first term in the Oval Office, Irish corporate tax receipts rose “by 60% or something of that quantum”, adding “I don’t think there is, for us, economically speaking, anything that we cannot manage or mitigate”.
The Sinn Féin leader sidestepped questions on how she felt about Mr Trump, now a convicted felon, winning a second term as US president but said that the outcome of the democratic process is to be respected and Ireland must continue to work with whatever administration is in place.
Ireland has a long-standing relationships in the US that are cultural, familial, and economic and these strong connections must endure no matter who is in office, Ms McDonald said. She added:
Sinn Féin has set out its “strong difference” with the American system when it comes to their foreign policy, particularly in relation to the Middle East, the party leader said.
“We are very, very resolute that whoever leads the government, and it will be Trump now, the issue of Palestine and bringing an end to the genocide in Gaza and the warfare in Lebanon has to be high on the agenda and that means the US ceasing its arming of the Netanyahu regime,” Ms McDonald said.
There are concerns internationally about what four years of Mr Trump will mean for the wider world order and there is an expectation that “everybody in leadership positions has to work to acknowledge and respect every citizen”.
In reference to the US president-elect, who was found guilty of sexually abusing writer E Jean Carroll in a civil case last year, Ms McDonald added: “As a woman, I think it is very important that women in public life and women across society are fully respected in every which way and I would expect the leader of the free world to rise to those standards.”