Speculation has been rampant about whether An Taoiseach Micheál Martin will raise it when he meets with President Trump in the Oval Office on or around St. Patrick’s Day.  With all that has come to light, it is a virtual certainty that Martin will not raise Culleton personally. Whether he will invoke the plight of the Irish undocumented in the US generally, as has been customary, is an open question, especially as much of the confab occurs in front of the assembled press.

Following all that the people of Ireland have witnessed during Trump 2.0, it is unsurprising that there has been a massive drop in support for the Taoiseach to avail of the unique opportunity for a bilateral meeting with the leader of the free world.  A Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks poll conducted in late January reveals that a majority, 54 percent, are still in favour of Martin’s accepting the invitation.  But that is down from the 74 percent who thought he should go in 2025.

My view is that the Taoiseach must go – that it is more important than ever that Ireland reaffirm its bond with the US, which transcends one man who temporarily lives in the White House, at a rocky moment in a mutually beneficial relationship that has long been the envy of the world.

To some extent, this will be a survival exercise for Micheál Martin: get in, have a friendly chat, and get out unscathed.  Declining to attend, as some who are animated by moral righteousness say he must, may sound good in the abstract.  Yet it would be foolish.  For one thing, consider how incensed the bombastic billionaire was by the recent US Supreme Court decision on his beloved tariffs and remember that there is no country on the planet more exposed than Ireland to his whims on this front.

The Taoiseach has to be there on what is a global holiday.  Also, he has to reciprocate by telling the president that he and his family are more than welcome at the Irish Open in September at Trump International Golf Links in Doonbeg, Co. Clare.

•••

The thorny case of Séamus Culleton has dominated Irish headlines, airwaves, and social media since the Kilkenny native appeared on RTÉ Radio One’s Liveline programme with Kieran Cuddihy.  It has also garnered significant attention in the United States, probably because Culleton is an atypical “illegal alien” to be taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

Having arrived in the Boston area in 2009, where two uncles were living, Culleton, like thousands of Irish men and women before and after him, wrongly overstayed his 90-day tourist visa.  A plasterer, he established his own business on the North Shore and married a US citizen, Tiffany Smith, in 2025.  It was his second marriage in the US.  As a result, Culleton was close to securing a Green Card when he was apprehended in a Home Depot parking lot.

In his Liveline interview from an ICE detention centre in Texas, Culleton described the horrendous conditions he and others were being held in and issued an urgent plea for the Irish government to assist.  Because radio is such an influential element of Irish public discourse, politicians in government parties immediately pledged to advocate strongly on his behalf.  Those in opposition countered that the government had failed Culleton – an Irishman caught up in what is commonly seen here as the appalling vista of Donald Trump’s America.

That said, from the get-go, there was a chorus of voices arguing that Culleton had merely gotten what he deserved.  He violated US law and should pay the penalty.  Plus, he could simply walk away from what he alleged to be akin to a “concentration camp” if he consented to deportation.  Their calls grew louder when it was discovered that Culleton was arrested on multiple occasions in New Ross, Co. Wexford, on charges related to drunkenness and possession of drugs with intent to supply.  Furthermore, it emerged that he left behind two very young daughters when he boarded a plane bound for Logan Airport ahead of court dates.

The attacks on Culleton since have been relentless.  And let’s be frank: he clearly has made some grave, possibly unforgivable mistakes in his life.  I don’t think I would want him marrying into my family.  That is not the appropriate measuring stick here, however.

The plain truths remain.  ICE has been out of control and very many individuals have been grievously mistreated.  Yes, these undocumented migrants are not saints, but canonization is not a prerequisite to admission to the US.  If it were, plenty of our own ancestors, as well as Irish-born people living legally in Massachusetts today, wouldn’t have gained entry.  The facts that Culleton appears to have committed no crimes in the US, has worked hard and not been a burden on the government, and is married to an American all mean that he has a colourable case to make, as his experienced attorney, Ogor Okoye, robustly asserts.  We shall see how that plays out.  It doesn’t look good for him at this juncture.

The debate over Culleton’s situation is remarkable in so many ways.  President Trump’s adherents in America claim it is proof that their hero is not a racist – that ICE goes after everyone with equal vigour.  Here, the burgeoning right contends that the “leftist media” in Ireland championed Culleton’s cause without doing its homework because they are blinded by “Trump Derangement Syndrome” and are now furiously backpedalling.

American commentators refer to a Wexford local court as if it has the trappings of a federal court in a major US city and intimate that Culleton, who was reportedly found with a handful of ecstasy tablets, is an Irish version of Pablo Escobar.  Here, numerous observers, including some who should know better, make off-the-wall assumptions and repeat falsehoods that reflect a total ignorance of the complexity and nuance of US immigration law.

It is reasonably safe to assume one thing about this sordid mess: Séamus Culleton wishes he never went on Liveline.

•••

“Oh, God, will it ever stop raining?” is the chorus to a sarcastic Saw Doctors’ ode to Ireland’s famously soggy climate.  It have never been more apt than over these past couple of months.  At Valentia Observatory in Co. Kerry, rainfall was recorded every single day from Jan. 1 to Feb. 15.  It is the wettest start to a year at Dublin Airport since 1941, when records were first kept.

As regular visitors here will know, the west is typically most afflicted by inclement weather.  That has been flipped on its head in early 2026.  The east coast of Ireland has had it far worse.  My pals in Galway are getting a big chuckle out of our predicament in Wicklow.

I know that it has been cold in Boston, that there’s been a good amount of snow, even a blizzard.  Still, though, this incessant rain is miserable, particularly for us golf addicts.  If there is any justice, we will have a brilliant summer as recompense.  But I won’t be running to the bookies on that score.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Larry Donnelly is a Boston-born and educated attorney, a Law Lecturer at the University of Galway, and a regular media commentator on politics, law, and current affairs in Ireland and the US.  Twitter/X: @LarryPDonnelly