Some left-wing Irish lawmakers have boycotted Joe Biden's speech to the country's parliament, and their party has strongly criticized the president's stance on major international issues.
People Before Profit (PBP) had previously announced their intention to boycott the special sitting of Ireland's parliament, while there had previously been concerns about a possible walkout during the President's remarks.
While Biden has received a warm welcome throughout most of his visit to Ireland and Northern Ireland, PBP is in the process of staging a series of events criticizing the President and his policies.
NEWSWEEK NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP >
Four members of the Irish lower house of parliament—known as the Dáil—belong to PBP and one of them, Richard Boyd Barrett, told the Irish Mirror on Wednesday that Biden shouldn't "be insulated from criticism or questioning."
Mick Barry, a Socialist Party member of the Irish parliament, also said he would not attend the speech. "There are at least five Dáil deputies boycotting Joe Biden's address to the Oireachtas in protest at US foreign policy. I am proud to be one of them," Barry tweeted on Thursday ahead of Biden's address.
"Far from being a peacemaker, he has a pretty terrible record of supporting all the worst, most militarist stances in U.S. foreign policy over many years," Boyd Barrett said.
The graph below, provided by Statista, shows deaths in Northern Ireland from the Troubles, a long period of sectarian violence.
"Joe Biden needs to be forcefully challenged over his long-standing and unconditional support for the apartheid regime in Israel and its brutal and criminal treatment of Palestinians; his pivotal role in promoting the US invasion and occupation of Iraq; his active promotion of NATO expansion; and the ongoing and blatant double standards of U.S. foreign policy globally," the parliamentarian said.
The Irish parliament has chosen not to allow members to make speeches in response to Biden's remarks on Thursday—a move criticized by Boyd Barrett, who said: "Why should Joe Biden get different treatment to other guests who have been invited to speak who have been subject to questioning or criticism?"