TRUMP RETURN COULD BE BAD NEWS FOR IRISH
Posted on 27th January 2024
I’m in hospital this week so not at my best. Two nights in A & E has hardly helped my state of mind. Then to my dismay Donald Trump wins the Republican primary in New Hampshire, making it highly likely he will be the Republican candidate for the Presidency. As the polls stand, there is a strong possibility that he could beat Biden and return to the White House. I’ve often quoted my formative years which I spent as an undergraduate at Harvard and I am a great admirer of the United States. However, this was always tempered by the fact that the White House had been occupied by such significant figures as Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican and John F. Kennedy, a Democrat. Even when Richard Nixon, a Republican, abused his office over Watergate, he was ultimately forced to resign and Gerald Ford became President. The critical point here was the system of checks and balances worked. This is essential if American democracy is to function. However, now Donald Trump, who has no respect for the institutions of the State and seemingly no respect for democracy seems poised to be the Republican candidate for the Presidency. There is the awful possibility that he might beat Biden and head back to the White House. This fills me with trepidation and it should induce the same feeling in every Irish citizen because his foreign policy objectives threaten us all. He would almost certainly seek to reduce military aid to Ukraine and conceivably withdraw America from membership of NATO. In short he could destabilise the entire Western Alliance leaving Europe open to further aggressive expansion from Vladimir Putin. We may be neutral in Ireland but do we really want to see this? It is possible that his multiple criminal indictments may be his undoing but so far his strategy of leveraging them into a narrative of political persecution appears to have worked. This is an extraordinary scenario. Are we going to have a convicted felon in the White House ?
Since 2002 I have been working as a columnist for the Mirror and I have enjoyed the experience. Now, unfortunately, I have to say Goodbye because my column is being axed because of “ a major cost restructuring” and to “ meet new editorial budgets”. It is apparently “ not a reflection in any way on the quality or value of the column”. That was nice of them. No watch. No party. Now, just a desire to find another avenue for my voice.
