The sister of President Catherine Connolly told CNN that the White House should be “flattened” on the same day she met US President Donald Trump at Áras an Uachtaráin.
Dr Margaret Connolly, an outspoken activist, made the remarks while taking part in a Dublin protest against Mr Trump and the US role in the Gaza conflict. The demonstration took place on Saturday, the first day of the US president’s visit to Ireland.
Dr Connolly, who was previously detained by Israel while attempting to reach Gaza aboard an aid flotilla, was filmed by CNN discussing Mr Trump. “You are murdering and slaughtering and causing a genocide. Take your goddamn rubble home and flatten your bloody White House,” she said.
On the same day, Mr Trump met President Connolly at Áras an Uachtaráin before holding bilateral talks with Taoiseach Micheál Martin at Farmleigh House in Dublin’s Phoenix Park. The US president later travelled to his golf course in Doonbeg, Co Clare, where he watched the Irish Open. The tournament was won by Offaly golfer Shane Lowry.
Catherine Connolly’s sister Dr Margaret Connolly speaks on CNN
The visit was broadly presented as a success by the Irish Government. Mr Trump pledged to help secure the delivery of Irish aid to Gaza and later announced that tariffs on Irish whiskey would be lifted.
Following her meeting with the US president, President Connolly said she had raised the situation in Gaza. She said she conveyed “the strong view of the Irish people that the normalisation of war and genocide can never be accepted”.
However, Dr Margaret Connolly’s highly inflammatory comments risk overshadowing the diplomatic gains associated with Mr Trump’s visit.
The White House’s official video of Mr Trump’s trip to Ireland, posted on the administration’s X account, did not contain photographs or footage of his meeting with President Connolly.
One source, discussing the official White House video, described the meeting with President Connolly as a “courtesy call”. The source also noted that journalists had covered President Trump’s arrival at the residence. A spokesman for Mr Trump said there would be no comment.
Catherine Connolly shakes hands with her US counterpart
Protests against Mr Trump’s Ireland visit were held in Dublin, Shannon and Doonbeg. Several US media organisations, including CNN, travelled to Dublin to report on the visit and the demonstrations.
CNN shared the video of Dr Connolly on TikTok and other social media platforms, but it did not identify her as President Connolly’s sister.
The Mail attempted to contact Dr Connolly through her surgery in Sligo. After staff were told the caller was from the Irish Daily Mail, the person answering replied, “The Irish Daily Mail, no thank you,” before ending the call.
Further questions about whether Dr Connolly had identified herself to CNN as the President’s sister, or had told President Connolly that she had spoken to the network, received no response.
The Mail also contacted CNN to ask if Dr Connolly had identified herself as the sister of the President.
The office of the President was also contacted for comment, as was the Department of Foreign Affairs and the US Embassy in Dublin.
Dr Connolly appeared to make the comments on Saturday at the protest in Dublin, only hours after her sister met with President Trump at the Áras.
Dr Connolly is a GP based in Sligo who has worked in general practice for more than four decades.
President Connolly had a 20-minute meeting with the US president at Áras an Uachtaráin soon after his arrival in Ireland on Saturday morning.
Sources said there were no fireworks between the pair.
In a statement issued after the meeting, which was attended by members of both the US and Irish delegations but no media, Ms Connolly said: ‘As President of Ireland, I am very conscious that Ireland and the United States of America are bound by strong ties.
‘This is a deep connection, built over centuries, which allows us to speak openly to one another. We are in a world facing the existential threat posed by war and climate change, both of which are inextricably interlinked.
‘I conveyed the strong view of the Irish people that the normalisation of war and genocide can never be accepted. As a country which has suffered famine, colonisation and the violence of the Troubles, but also the importance of the long and challenging road to peace, I emphasised the unique insight which Irish people can bring to the resolution of conflict.’
Shane Lowry with the Irish Open trophy at Trump’s Doonbeg golf course
Ms Connolly also said she highlighted to Mr Trump the strong commitment which the Irish people have to the importance of the UN. She said this ‘included the pride which Irish people feel in Ireland’s contribution to UN peacekeeping since 1958, and to the obligations contained within Article 29 of our Constitution towards the peaceful resolution of international disputes’.
The President continued that she had assured Mr Trump that ‘the Irish people would strongly support all those who have the strength to build a shared peace in all those parts of the world currently suffering from such horrific war and violence’.
Mr Trump didn’t answer any questions as to what was discussed during their meeting.
At a press conference with the Taoiseach at Farmleigh House after the Áras sit-down, Mr Trump said there had been ‘a very nice meeting’ with Ms Connolly, adding it was ‘a very respectful meeting.’
Pressed as to the nature of the conversation, Mr Trump asked his chief of protocol, Monica Crowley, to fill everyone in. ‘The president had a very constructive conversation with President Connolly today about a whole range of issues including energy and European supplies of energy,’ she said.
Mr Trump stressed, however, that he thought the President was ‘terrific, it was quite pleasant, we talked about a lot of things’.
One of the major talking points from the US president’s visit was his support for Irish unification and our sister paper the Irish Mail on Sunday revealed that it was Mr Trump who first raised the topic with President Connolly. He asked her how ‘the merger’ was going within minutes of their behind-closed-doors chat starting. He later told a joint press conference with the Taoiseach that he would ‘love’ it if the North and the Republic were to reunite.
Catherine Connolly after being detained by Israeli forces in May
President Connolly gave President Trump a St Brigid’s Cross, a copy of the book Navigatio Sancti Brendani – The Voyage Of St Brendan, and the collected poems of Michael Longley, including his sonnet Ceasefire.
Dr Connolly established her own GP practice in Sligo in 1992. She is originally from Galway city and grew up in Shantalla with 13 siblings, including President Connolly. She is married to Sligo county councillor Declan Bree.
She was one of hundreds of activists detained by Israel earlier this year as they attempted to reach Gaza as part of an aid flotilla. She was eventually returned home after a number of days. She claimed that detainees had been hit with guns and stepped on.
