TAOISEACH Micheál Martin has been criticised for planning a trip to visit US President Joe Biden in Washington D.C. for St Patrick's Day, and the annual Shamrock bowl handover.
Tipperary Independent TD Mattie McGrath slammed Martin for adopting a "do as I say, not as I do" attitude to foreign travel.
Non-essential trips abroad have effectively been banned in and out of Ireland, and many have questioned whether the Taoiseach's trip to the States for a simple ceremony is absolutely necessary.
Earlier this month it was revealed that one of the government's key St Patrick's Day objectives was a visit to the White House.
McGrath said Martin's "insistence" on the trip isn't exactly setting a good example for the Irish public, who have been told trips abroad are almost completely off the cards, other than in exceptional circumstances.
"To plough ahead with the 2021 St Patrick's Day White House trip is completely irresponsible as a global pandemic runs riot," McGrath said.
"It is essentially a case of 'do as I say, not as I do'."
He said the government was confining the freedoms of Irish citizens "while planning a lavish and contradictory trip themselves".
Independent TD Mattie McGrath has slammed Micheal Martin's trip to Washington"The magnitude of mixed and contradictory messaging by this government is the worst experienced by any Irish government in history," he added.
"The decision by the Taoiseach and his government to proceed with a St Patrick's Day trip, in the midst of this crisis, represents more of the misplaced approach. It is sucking the morale from every community.
"I'm calling for the Taoiseach and government to cancel the St Patrick's Day trip to Washington. To travel to the US on an official visit at this time would be reckless."
McGrath added that if Mr Martin was so desperate to meet Mr Biden, he could do so in an online capacity instead, just as parents and children have been forced to work and learn from home using the same platforms.
"True leadership should always begin at home," McGrath said.
