FORMER UFC fighter Conor McGregor has been invited to Washington DC today where he is expected to meet with US President Donald Trump.
In remarks made at a White House press conference this afternoon, McGregor was highly critical of Ireland’s current immigration policy. It is expected that he will address those issues in more detail in a private meeting with the president at the Oval Office.
McGregor’s visit comes just days after Micheál Martin sat down with the American premier in an exchange which was welcomed as a diplomatic success for Ireland. Both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste Simon Harris condemned McGregor’s appearance in the strongest possible terms, saying that his worldview is not representative of the Irish people.
McGregor railed against what he perceived as the Irish Government ‘abandoning the voices of the people of Ireland’, telling reporters that it was ‘high time America be made aware of’ what he termed the ‘travesty’ of what was happening in Ireland.
Taking to X to refute the sports star’s claims, the Taoiseach wrote: “St Patrick’s Day around the world is a day rooted in community, humanity, friendship and fellowship. Conor McGregor’s remarks are wrong, and do not reflect the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, or the views of the people of Ireland.”
Tánaiste Harris, meanwhile, told reporters in New York: “He [Donald Trump] is perfectly entitled to do whatever he wishes in relation to who he decides to invite to the White House.
But let me be very clear, Conor McGregor is not here in the United States representing Ireland or the people of Ireland.”
Despite White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying that she ‘couldn't think of a better guest to have with us on St Patrick's Day’ a jury in a civil trial in 2024 found that McGregor had raped Nikita Hand in a hotel in Dublin in December 2018. As a result, the fighter was required to pay her almost €250,000 in damages.
See More: Conor McGregor, Donald Trump, St Patrick's Day
