Ireland to give "careful consideration" on Trump invitation for new board of peace

The proposed plans are part of the American president’s 20-point peace plan for the Middle East, but have already seen Israel not completely happy.

Invitations have been extended to up to 60 nations.

The plan is that President Trump would act as life-chair of the board, which would first start by dealing with the Gaza conflict, and then expand to deal with other world conflicts.

So far, the board consists of former UK prime minister Tony Blair and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Of the countries who have received invites, Hungary is the only one to confirm their acceptance of the invite.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee confirmed "careful consideration" was being made on the invitation to Ireland who are wholly committed to the UN, who she said "may be imperfect but is more important now than ever."

 
 Last year a directive for a board of peace was greenlit by the United Nationals Security Council, however the plan only goes to 2027 and does not take into consideration other worldwide conflicts.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee.

Ms McEntee said Ireland would "co-ordinate closely with our EU and wider European partners."

She stressed the importance of remaining focused on Gaza and the full implementation of the second phase of the peace plan.

Elsewhere, An Taoiseach Micheál Martin has dismissed calls for him to boycott the White House for its traditional St Patrick’s Day ceremony.

An Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

The Fianna Fáil leader noted he believes in ‘dialogue’ and insisted he would be heading to Washington in March to meet the US President for the annual Bowl of Shamrock ceremony.

Mr Martin said: ‘I believe in engagement; the US-Irish relationship is a very important one, as are the other relationships, and in my view, given the importance and centrality of the relationship between Ireland and the US, and indeed with our diaspora, it’s important that we continue to engage.

‘We have interests in terms of the execution of our foreign policy, we have value also, and those will inform our approach to any meeting with the US President in March.’

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.