St Patrick's Day: NI ministers to travel to White House

Two Stormont ministers will fly to the US this week ahead of the St Patrick's Day celebrations in Washington.

Finance Minister Conor Murphy and Economy Minister Gordon Lyons are due to take part in a series of trade and investment events before attending the annual ceremony at the White House.

Civil service head Jayne Brady and Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill will join them.

Washington's St Patrick's Day events have been cancelled for the past two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some restrictions, including face coverings, remain in place for White House events.

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis, Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader Colum Eastwood and Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin will also be in Washington.

The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) said it regretted that its leader Doug Beattie was "too unwell to travel to Washington" on this occasion.

"We wish those attending this week`s events a happy St Patrick`s Day and we look forward to taking up future invitations and opportunities to engage directly with the US administration," a UUP spokesperson added.

After a two-year absence, the Irish political exodus on St Patrick's Day has returned with 33 Dublin ministers flying around the world.

But there will be no first or deputy first minister from Northern Ireland.

Their absence will be noted and used by some to talk up the the crisis at Stormont.

But any debate will be completely overshadowed by the war in Ukraine and it will be Putin and not the protocol which will dominate discussions.

The programme in Washington will include the traditional Northern Ireland Bureau breakfast on St Patrick's Day.

At the same time, US Vice President Kamala Harris will host a breakfast gathering before the annual speakers' luncheon with Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives.

The traditional shamrock handover between the taoiseach and US President Joe Biden will take place in the oval office.

On Tuesday, politicians will gather at the Irish Embassy for the unveiling of a bust celebrating the life of former SDLP leader John Hume, who died in 2020.

Before arriving in Washington, Mr Lyons will meet investors in New York along with representatives from the US travel industry.

He will also travel to Maryland to meet officials from the US Department of Commerce to talk about a shared project on cyber security.

Although she is no longer deputy first minister, Michelle O'Neill will also be in the US with her Sinn Féin party leader Mary Lou McDonald.

They will attend an Irish unity event in New York before Ms McDonald addresses the US Council on Foreign Relations.

It is not yet clear if other party leaders, including the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, plan to travel to Washington this week.