US President Biden visits Irish town of Dundalk

LONDON 

US President Joe Biden began his trip to Ireland Wednesday in Dundalk, a town in the county where his mother’s family is from.

“Coming here feels like coming home,” Biden said as he participated in a community gathering at the Windsor Bar along with his sister Valerie and younger son Hunter.

Local residents including representatives from the International Fund for Ireland, US Ambassador to Ireland Claire Cronin and Ireland’s Ambassador to the US Geraldine Byrne Nason were among the attendees.

Welcoming Biden, Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin touched on the importance of the Good Friday Agreement, which is marking its 25th anniversary.

The value of the Good Friday Agreement was “so tangible and real here in this location,” he said.

“In the darkest days of the Troubles, it was a place of refuge for those fleeing from violence, even though it itself was touched by violence,” he added, referring to an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years, from the late 1960s to 1998.

Martin said the US will remain an essential and fundamental partner.

For his part, Biden, who called Martin “prime minister,” expressed his pleasure to be in Ireland.

“Coming here, it feels like coming home, and it really does,” he said.

Touching on his family connections to Ireland, Biden mentioned how his ancestors had to leave Ireland during the Great Famine.

“Together we have to keep working toward a future of greater dignity and as we face darkness, and there is darkness we have to face, but we must keep marching forward because the world has possibilities,” he said.

“Thank you all for the homecoming welcome. The bad news for all of you is we’ll be back. There’s no way to keep us out, but thank you,” he concluded.

Biden, who arrived in Northern Ireland last night, met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Later, he gave a speech at Ulster University on peace and prosperity in Northern Ireland and then traveled in Dublin, where he was welcomed by Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.

Biden is expected to meet with Irish President Michael Higgins and Varadkar and later address the Irish parliament.

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