Former Labour minister Jan O’Sullivan will participate in a peace camp at Shannon airport today in protest at the visit of US President Donald Trump.
She said that the aim of the protest is to make Mr Trump aware of Irish people’s feelings about his opinions on racism and climate change.
Ms O’Sullivan told RTE radio’s Morning Ireland that the US President’s description of the Mayor of London Sidiq Khan as “a stone cold loser” was “schoolboy bullying language.”
In relation to climate change, she said it was ironic that the world is being led on the issue by a teenage girl while “the most powerful man in the world says it doesn’t exist.”
She said that she was sorry that the Taoiseach had invited Mr Trump to Ireland, but she hoped Mr Varadkar would be very clear in his discussions about Ireland’s feelings on the issues.
Ms O’Sullivan rejected a suggestion that she would not have protested if she was still a member of the Government. “I believe I would protest if I was in Government. I feel very strongly about this.”
She said that when she was a Minister of State she had expressed her views on human rights when in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia and on homophobia while in Africa.
The peace camp at Shannon airport is designed to ensure that there is a strong expression of the views of the Irish people, she said.
She said Mr Trump was visiting Ireland to promote his re-election campaign and his golf resort at Doonbeg.
