Air Force One lands in Dublin but Biden’s helicopter trip to Co Louth cancelled

Instead he will travel to the Irish county which borders Co Armagh by motorcade, after bad weather halted plans for the president to travel by helicopter.

Mr Biden crossed the border from Northern Ireland on Wednesday and he was greeted on the tarmac at Dublin Airport by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

The US President was also met by pouring rain and cold winds, with staff holding umbrellas for Mr Biden as he shook hands with Mr Varadkar.

The Republic of Ireland leg of the President’s four-day tour of the island will see him travel to the Irish capital, Co Louth and Co Mayo.

Mr Biden became the sixth person to travel through Dublin Airport while serving as US President, following Barack Obama’s visit to the country in May 2011.

Ireland’s Ambassador to the US Geraldine Byrne Nason was also among the politicians and officials to greet the President, alongside her US counterpart Claire D Cronin and her husband Ray.

During his stay in the Republic of Ireland, the President will tour Carlingford Castle in Co Louth – an area Mr Biden has traced his ancestral roots to.

The US president’s son Hunter Biden and sister Valerie Biden Owens are accompanying him for the trip.

He is also expected to deliver a number of speeches over the course of his three days in the country, – including in Dublin, at St Muredach’s Cathedral in Ballina and to the Irish Parliament.