Trump should return Sinn Fein's discourtesy and review the St Patrick's Day invitation list

When he recovers from this blow I do hope the new American President will return the discourtesy when looking down the invite list for the St Patrick’s Day celebrations.

Whatever the rights or wrongs of it, President Trump’s decision to restrict immigration, which generated this latest round of protest, was intended to frustrate terrorists and their sympathizers in gaining entry to the US.

Perhaps Sinn Fein’s Leadership Council predicted issues for Gerry, Michelle and the rest of the gang getting through US immigration for the next few years; but I don’t know what excuse most of us in NI would have to protest Trump.

On 8th June 2015 I very uncomfortably attended the inaugural ceremony of the Chinese Consulate-General in Belfast. All parties were present, and Arlene and Martin gushed praise for the Chinese government,

Martin greeting their Ambassador with ‘céad míle fáilte’ - a hundred thousand welcomes.

China, of course, is an occasionally brutal dictatorship which stamps out all dissent. Other states, such as the ones whose citizens the US has temporarily banned from entry, treat women as property, don’t permit entry to Israeli Jews, capital punishment for gay people-you get the idea.

So, just as Northern Ireland won’t be in the top 100 of Mr Trump’s to-do list, neither should the USA be in our top 100 list of things driving us out into the streets in protest.

Northern Irish politicians are causing misery right here, too dull to realise it or too power-hungry to care. Everyone appears disgusted with our politicians but then close to half of us don’t vote.

If we swapped our social media outrage to getting ourselves and our families to actually vote on March 2nd, for anyone – anyone but DUP/SF – our hospitals, schools and economy would be so much the better for it.

People would suffer a little less.

Our street protests might invite Americans to giggle a little at us, but sitting it out on election day invites the DUP and Sinn Fein to roar.

Carl McClean, Councillor, North Down and Ards, UUP