Conor McGregor has launched a scathing attack on Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin, claiming the premier doesn't represent the Irish people.
This follows criticism from Martin and other Irish political leaders who said that the MMA fighter doesn't speak for Ireland after McGregor's St. Patrick's Day meeting with US President Donald Trump.
During his White House visit, McGregor lauded Trump's work ethic as "inspiring," a sentiment reciprocated by Trump, who described McGregor as "fantastic."
The Dublin-born fighter also told reporters that Ireland’s money was “being spent on overseas issues that is nothing to do with the Irish people”.
“The illegal immigration racket is running ravage on the country,” he said.
“There are rural towns in Ireland that have been overrun in one swoop, that have become a minority in one swoop, so issues need to be addressed and the 40 million Irish Americans, as I said, need to hear this because if not there will be no place to come home and visit.”
McGregor, who has previously expressed interest in running for the Irish presidency, criticized the Irish government as an administration of "zero action with zero accountability."
His visit to the White House came months after he was found civilly liable in a High Court damages case in Dublin taken by a woman who accused him of rape.
Nikita Hand, also known as Nikita Ni Laimhin, won her claim against McGregor after accusing the professional fighter of raping her in a Dublin hotel in December 2018.
Hand, 35, was awarded damages and costs after a three-week trial in 2024 in which the jury found him civilly liable for assault.
A judge at the High Court in Dublin later said the jury had “conclusively determined” that McGregor had raped Hand. McGregor is appealing against the outcome of the civil case.
Rachel Morrogh, chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, said the meeting between Trump and McGregor was a “very sinister event”.
Ms Morrogh characterised the engagement as an attempt to normalise sexual violence and rebuild McGregor’s reputation.
She told RTE’s News At One that she was writing to the US embassy over what she said was a “really callous indifference to every survivor of sexual violence”.
In response to McGregor’s comments to reporters in the White House briefing room, Martin later said his claims were “wrong” and did not reflect the views of the Irish people.
Deputy premier Simon Harris said that McGregor was not in the US to represent Ireland and did not speak for the people of Ireland, and “has no mandate to”.
Asked about Martin’s criticism, McGregor told Sky News: “I am an employer of over 200 people, almost 300 people in the country of Ireland. He’s an employer of none.
“Every available metric available to us has shown that the Government of Ireland currently has failed the people of Ireland.
“In 10 years, Dublin City Centre has gone from one of the most safest cities in Europe, to one of the most dangerous.
“So, shame on him for saying that, speaking down on an Irishman. I won’t speak about him personally, throw a jab – I could, I could throw many jabs at him, I could throw jabs handily at them.
“However, I speak on the metrics, and the metrics show they failed the people of Ireland. They do not represent the people of Ireland.”
Asked how he would respond to people who said it is inappropriate for him to attend the White House, he walked away after saying: “God bless Ireland and God bless America.”
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