This post has been revised from our live blog of the Feb. 4 “Bridging the Atlantic VII” conference at Georgetown University. MH

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Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Helen McEntee, TD, has addressed the House Judiciary Report ​report allegations of “harassment” and “censorship” by the EU and Coimisiún na Meán against tech groups to undermine conservative and populist parties.​

McEntee would not take my question about the matter after her keynote speech at Georgetown’s seventh annual “Bridging the Atlantic” conference. Her press counselor did not return an emailed follow up.

McEntee confirmed to the Irish Times that she discussed the issue with US trade ambassador Jamieson Grier. She stressed Ireland’s position that the regulations are designed to protect young people, according to the Times, which quoted her saying:

“I think there are certain elements of this that we don’t agree on. And for me it’s important that we engage on the areas we disagree on. I think what we all agree on is that, irrespective of whether someone is online or offline, they are protected. It’s about engaging and looking at how we can resolve those differences and I certainly think there is a view from the US that perhaps, you know, we could not deregulate. There is an element of red tape that could be removed and Ireland has been very clear that that’s something we want to see happen.”

During her Georgetown speech, McEntee said US challenges to Greenland’s sovereignty are “unacceptable.” Say said that any framing of Ireland having to decide between the US and EU is “rubbish.”

Ireland will hold the presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of this year. McEntee says Ireland has a strong committment to international law and believes in the United Nations.

“There is a risk of looking back with rose-tinted glasses to a past that never reallys existed,” McEntee said, echoing earlier conference panelists.

McEntee is a Fine Gael politician from Meath East. She was first elected in 2013, replacing her father in the constituency. She is also Ireland’s Minister of Defense, the first woman to hold the two ministerial roles.

McEntee said she met earlier today with members of Congress from both US parties on a variety of issues. Despite challenges to the US-Irish relationship, “more unites us than divides us,” she said.

New staff being added to Irish embassies in DC and throughout the US. “The St. Patrick’s Day program this year will be the most ambitious ever,” McEntee said.

“What once felt settled is being fundamentally tested,” she said. “I don’t take lightly the scale of what is going on around us. But our relationship will get us through any challenges.”

(An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Ireland would chair the UN Security Council later this year. That has been corrected to presidency of the Council of the European Union.)

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Here is some of my live coverage from the conference panels.

Carolyn Gallagher and Kimberly Cowell-Meyers, both of American University, discuss Building a Green Wall: Irish America’s Resurgence Post-Brexit. Their 2025 book explores how Irish American interested lobbied to stop a hard border on the island of Ireland resulting from Brexit. Mary Murphy of Boston College says Sinn Fein’s efforts for united Ireland face strong headwinds in the US. Things are much different today compared to the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990s or the post-Brexit border issue. … Ireland as a small state is also loosing agency on other issues in the disrupted international order, she said.

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Discussing United Irishmen and Young Ireland impacts in Ireland and the USA. … Many Irish in America was said to be members of radical and revolutionary groups in Ireland … but they really weren’t, Anbinder says.

The 1912 US election resulted in 43 Irish American congressmen, four Irish American US senators, four Irish American governors, and one Irish American president (Woodrow Wilson), according to Meagher. Only two of the congressmen were native born Irishmen, the rest were second generation Irish Americans. All were generally wary of getting involved in Irish politics. “Tammy Hall doesn’t pay a lot of attention to Irish nationalism,” Meagher said. That changed after the 1916 Rising.

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Cian T. McMahon, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, historian noted that most scholarship of the Irish in America is focused on the 19th and 20th century, not the 18th century. New York University historian Marion Casey said Ulster Scots were not the only Irish in colonial America, as typically portrayed. Members of British Army in the colonies included Irish from across the island. The US also was a convict dumping ground for the empire. “The 18^th century cannot be pigeon holed as one thing,” Casey said.

McMahon said historians should focus on “stories,” plural, not a single “story” of the Irish in America. “I don’t think that’s what happening on the America 250 website,” he said, which is focused on “our American story,” singular. He said the US commemoration should not be about one national ideal, but a set of debates about multiple ideals.

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In opening remarks, Cóilín Parsons, director of Georgetown’s Global Irish Studies program, noted this year’s conference will focus on the past more than contemporary issues. He acknowledged the US-Irish (and EU) relationship is currently “under duress.” That’s all the more reason for an honest exploration of the foundations of the relationship beyond “some gauzy dream of friendship.”

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I’m at Georgetown University’s “Bridging the Atlantic VII” conference in Washinton, DC. This year’s event will explore 250 years of US-Irish relations. I am live blogging the event throughout the day. Email subscribers should check the website to see the updates. Here’s our coverage of last year’s event.