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Taoiseach rejects Conor McGregor’s immigration remarks as fighter to meet with Trump | BreakingNews.ie


Taoiseach rejects Conor McGregor’s immigration remarks as fighter to meet with Trump | BreakingNews.ie

Conor McGregor has arrived at the White House where he is expected to meet with US president Donald Trump.

The White House posted a video of the mixed martial arts fighter on its social media platform X account.

The video shows Mr McGregor walking out the door and saying, “Happy Paddy’s Day, America.”

Mr McGregor also took surprise questions at the White House briefing room and signed a “Make Ireland Great Again” hat.

He said he is meeting with Trump to talk about how Ireland is losing its identity to immigrants, among other topics.

The fighter said he was in Washington “to raise the issues of the people of Ireland.”

Conor Mc Gregor accused the Irish Government of “abandoning the voices of the people of Ireland” saying it’s “high time that America be made aware” of, what he called, a “travesty” happening in Ireland.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin rejected Mr McGregor’s remarks. In a post on X, he said: “St Patrick’s Day around the world is a day rooted in community, humanity, friendship and fellowship.

“Conor McGregor’s remarks are wrong, and do not reflect the spirit of St Patrick’s Day, or the views of the people of Ireland.”

Simon Harris told journalists in New York that Mr McGregor does not speak for Ireland.

“President Trump can invite whoever he wants to his home, and he’s perfectly entitled to do whatever he wishes in relation to who he decides to invite to the White House.

“But let me be very clear, Conor McGregor is not here in the United States representing Ireland or the people of Ireland, he’s here in a personal capacity, he doesn’t speak for Ireland, he doesn’t speak for the people of Ireland. He has no mandate to do such,” the Tánaiste said.

Mr McGregor posted on X last night that he would be landing in Washington shortly for “the most important meeting of my countries future. I am beyond ready. The world will hear Ireland’s call.”

Last week, Mr Trump said Mr McGregor is “great” when asked who his favourite Irish person is during his Oval Office press conference with the Taoiseach.

“He’s got the best tattoos I’ve ever seen,” Mr Trump said, adding, “Conor’s great.”

The White House further posted a photo of Mr McGregor in front of portraits of US president Donald Trump and his vice-president JD Vance.

Mr McGregor, a controversial figure, is known in the United States for his successful MMA career.

In Ireland, his appeal aimed at overturning a civil jury’s finding that he raped Nikita Hand in a Dublin hotel will come before the Court of Appeal later this week.

Mr McGregor is expected to argue the jury finding in the original civil case is unsafe and should be overturned, with a retrial ordered if necessary.

The appeal is listed for March 21st before the three-judge appeal court for the purpose of making directions to progress it. If the sides are ready to proceed, a hearing date could be fixed within the next few months.

Last November, a High Court civil jury awarded €248,603 damages to Ms Hand against Mr McGregor after finding she was assaulted by him in the Beacon Hotel in Sandyford on December 9th, 2018.

Ms Hand, a 35-year-old mother of one, alleged she was raped by Mr McGregor in the hotel and he “would not take no for an answer”. Mr McGregor denied her claim and told the jury they had “fully-consensual sex”.



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