US President Donald Trump 'clearly incited and encouraged a mob' to storm Capitol Hill, Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has said.
He said it was 'sad and shocking' to see Washington DC descend into chaos on Wednesday.
A crowd of Trump supporters broke into congressional buildings as lawmakers worked to sign off on the results of Joe Biden's election win.
It came amid Mr Trump's frequent and baseless claims of election fraud, as well as attempts by some Republican senators - such as Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz - to challenge some states' results.
The violent scenes - which left five people dead - have been widely condemned, and led to efforts to have the outgoing president immediately removed from office with less than two weeks to go until inauguration day on January 20th.
Minister Coveney sharply criticised Mr Trump's actions in a tweet on Wednesday, and he told The Pat Kenny Show he stands by those comments.
He said: “My overall reaction is one of sadness to see a country as global and as dominant as the United States - in terms of its role in the world to protect democracy and the fundamentals around democracy - deteriorate into complete chaos at the heart of its capital.
“Undoubtedly the actions of President Trump contributed to that mob mentality and the levels of hysteria and aggression which led to - effectively - the storming of Capitol Hill."
Shocking & deeply sad scenes in Washington DC - we must call this out for what it is: a deliberate assault on Democracy by a sitting President & his supporters, attempting to overturn a free & fair election! The world is watching!
We hope for restoration of calm. pic.twitter.com/1OdQYEB35K— Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) January 6, 2021
The minister said bringing Mr Trump to account is a matter for politicians and leaders in the US, but he did feel the need to call out the US president's actions ‘honestly and bluntly’.
He said: “Even the most powerful person in the world should not be free from criticism... at a time when he was clearly inciting and encouraging a mob to march on Capitol Hill.
"I think that’s how the vast majority of people saw it."
Government 'hasn't been silent'
Minister Coveney insisted the Irish Government hasn't stayed silent in opposing the Trump administration's policies over the last four years.
He said the Irish Government has spoken out about issues such as the US approach to the treatment of Palestinians, the Iran nuclear deal, climate change and the overall foreign policy approach of the Trump administration.
He suggested: “I have never been personal in terms of criticism of the US president, and I don’t think we should be - expect when the US president is essentially inciting the kind of reaction we got from a crowd in the last 48 hours."
The aftermath of the riots has seen the resignation of several senior Trump officials - including Northern Ireland envoy Mick Mulvaney.
Minister Coveney said Mr Mulvaney is one of Ireland's 'many friends' in Washington DC - and he doesn't believe the resignation rings hollow with only days left of Trump's term in office.
He said: “I don’t think it’s right to just dismiss it as not really relevant because it’s a sinking ship.
“For someone like Mick Mulvaney - who has been as close to President Trump as he has been for most of the four years of the Trump presidency - to say ‘enough is enough’... I think that was a signal to a lot of others as well.”
