How Conor McGregor humiliated the Irish government

The Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin will have felt some relief after his visit to the White House last week. While Trump criticized Ireland for poaching American pharmaceutical companies, the general consensus was that Martin had walked away pretty unscathed. In fact, the mood was so optimistic following the encounter that Tanaiste Simon Harris, also in America for the week, offered Trump a state visit to Ireland sometime next year. 

But whatever warmth of feeling the Irish government may have had towards the President will have plummeted into the freezing depths following Trump’s decision to invite Conor McGregor to the White House to mark St. Patrick’s Day.

It is perhaps not surprising that McGregor received an invitation. Through his connections to UFC supremo Dana White, Trump has become something of a fan. The President even name-dropped the fighter last week during his meeting with Martin. While the Taoiseach may have found that irritating, McGregor’s remarks while in the White House, particularly when he was speaking in the press briefing room, now threaten to become a major diplomatic embarrassment.

Dressed in a green suit for St. Patrick’s Day, and beside a beaming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, McGregor claimed that “Ireland is at the cusp of potentially losing its Irishness,” because of an “illegal immigration racket [that] is running ravage on the country.”

He added that “there are rural towns in Ireland that have been overrun in one swoop… I’m here to raise the issue and highlight it… Our government is the government of zero action with zero accountability.”

Understandably, Martin and Harris were visibly furious at such a public humiliation on St. Patrick’s Day of all days.

“McGregor’s remarks are wrong, and do not reflect the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, or the views of the people of Ireland,” huffed Martin when quizzed on his comments, while Simon Harris was quick to point out that McGregor was visiting Trump in a personal capacity and “has no mandate” from the Irish people.

Unfortunately for the government, however, polls indicate that McGregor is speaking for more Irish people than they are. The inextricably linked issues of housing and immigration have forced this issue to the fore and McGregor was clever to mention the rural towns in Ireland which have seen local hotels turned into accommodation for asylum seekers.

But if ever there was a case of the right message being brought by the wrong messenger, this is it.

McGregor was never a massively popular person in Ireland. At the start of his career he undoubtedly suffered from prejudice and snobbery from a largely middle-class media who couldn’t relate to a brash working-class kid from Crumlin.

As his career progressed, his bad behavior also escalated. This culminated in the infamous civil rape case last year which found him liable for raping Nikita Hand and forced to pay €220,000 (the appeal is later this week). Since the case, McGregor has become increasingly disliked in Ireland.

Despite that, there is no doubt that his words in the White House will have resonated with many people. The Irish are becoming increasingly angry at how the government has handled the immigration system, and particularly asylum seekers. Its policies have left many towns in Ireland simply unrecognizable.

That message finally seems to be getting through to Micheal Martin who recently, finally, admitted that the “majority” of asylum seekers are economic migrants. That was a sentiment which would have been denounced as “far right” not so long ago. 

McGregor has long insisted that he wants to run as President of Ireland when Michael D. Higgins steps down at the end of his year. Contrary to what many of his American fans think, that is not going to happen. To be nominated as a candidate you need either the support of four county councils, 20 members of the Irish parliament or receive a personal nomination from a sitting or former president. None of those options will be open to him.

But if he contents himself with merely being an irritant to the government rather than leading the country, he has certainly achieved his objective this week. Because this was one of the biggest and most public humiliations Martin and Harris have ever suffered.