US President Joe Biden remarks that Irish visit ‘feels like coming home’

People lined the streets in Carlingford and Dundalk in Co Louth to cheer and wave American flags as Mr Biden arrived.

The president was accompanied by Tanaiste Micheal Martin as he toured St John’s castle, which offers a view of Carlingford Lough where Mr Biden’s great-great grandfather Owen Finnegan left via Newry port during the Irish famine in 1849 for a new life in the United States.

As Mr Biden walked around the castle amid the rain, someone shouted up to ask him what he thought of his visit, to which the president responded: “It feels wonderful, it feels like I’m coming home”, adding with regards to the heavy rain: “It’s fine, it’s Ireland.”

At The Windsor Bar in Dundalk later, Mr Biden met with distant cousins John Owen Finnegan and Andrea McEvitt – as well as local politicians.

He also paid tribute to his sister Valerie and his son Hunter, who have accompanied him on the trip to the island of Ireland.

He said: “Coming here feels like coming home.”

The president added: “I’ve often said the Irish are the only people who are nostalgic about the future. In my experience, hope is what beats in the heart of all people, particularly the heart of the Irish.

“Every action is about hope that we can make things better, hope to build both our nations that has been passed down generation to generation by our families. And it’s hope that continues to this day.”

Completing his first day in the Republic of Ireland, he said: “Thank you all for homecoming welcome. The bad news for all of you is we’ll be back. There’s no way to keep us out.

“I’m so proud to be here. So proud to be in Louth.”

Mr Martin also spoke at the event, focusing his remarks on the value of peace to the border town as he introduced Mr Biden.

He said that the value of the Good Friday Agreement was “so tangible and real here in this location”.

“It is a shared space, a place that links rather than divides. Peace is not an abstraction here,” he said.

“As we build on the ambition of the Good Friday Agreement to sustain a dynamic and prosperous peace, the US will remain an essential and fundamental partner.” He finished: “Welcome home, Mr President.”

Mr Biden had been due to fly by helicopter from Dublin to Co Louth, but plans were changed to a motorcade due to the weather conditions.

Locals had turned out in numbers on motorway overpasses as well as lining road sides approaching Carlingford and Dundalk despite the heavy rain.

In Dundalk, members of the public in ponchos and raincoats had been waiting to greet the US president with a sign reading “Dundalk welcomes President Biden” hung above Clanbrassil Street.

Mr Biden went into McAteers The Food House restaurant on the same street shortly before 7.15pm, where he chatted with staff.

Former Irish rugby player Rob Kearney was among those accompanying Mr Biden as he stopped off in the town.