Editorial: The visit to see Donald Trump in Washington was a net neutral for politicians who went from both sides of the border

​The visit to Washington DC was probably a net neutral for the Irish government and unionists who attended.​

Micheal Martin, the Irish prime minister, will be delighted to have emerged largely unscathed from his encounter with President Donald Trump, an American leader who does not like the EU, who does not like countries that fail to pay their way in defence, who does not like countries that extract more from the US than Mr Trump thinks they gain, and who seem more sympathetic to Hamas than Israel.

Emma Little-Pengelly, the deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, will be pleased to have met the president, got a photograph from him, and to have had access to powerbrokers that Sinn Fein missed, in their boycott of the White House event.

At the same time, Mr Martin will be concerned at some of President Trump’s criticisms of Ireland’s economic approach, and Ms Little-Pengelly will be rightly disappointed not to have got a brief audience with the US president and vice-president, JD Vance, given that Irish republicans were rude enough to snub America’s leaders.

There was black comedy in the fact that Mr Trump did not even know he was being boycotted by Sinn Fein, the SDLP and Alliance, nor seemingly know who they were. They might think that they were showing high principle over Gaza but at the same time they were spurning remarkable access to the top of the world’s only superpower.

It is a reflection of the strength of the Irish American lobby that someone was able to block Ms Little-Pengelly getting the audience she deserved. But unionist politicians have handled the last few days well, respectfully taking advantage of their access to promote Northern Ireland. It was not an easy day for Ireland, with Mr Trump highlighting the negative impact on the US economy of some of its companies basing themselves in the Republic for tax reasons.