US President Joe Biden met with President Michael D. Higgins and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Dublin today.
The 80-year-old arrived in Ireland on Tuesday evening for a historical four-day trip, and so far he has visited Belfast, Louth and Dublin.
On Thursday morning, Biden headed to Phoenix Park to meet with President Higgins and his wife Sabina at Áras an Uachtaráin.
The US President marked his visit by planting an oak tree at Áras an Uachtaráin and ringing the Peace Bell, which was erected in 2008 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
While Irish media were hopping for a sweet photo opp of Biden with the Irish President’s beloved dogs, the world leader was snubbed by President Higgins’ youngest pooch Misneach on arrival.
Biden then travelled a short distance to Farmleigh House, where he met with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
The two leaders discussed the importance of the Good Friday Agreement in the context of the 25th anniversary, and Varadkar also thanked Biden for his leadership amid Russia’s war on Ukraine.
This afternoon, Biden will address the Oireachtas, making him the fourth US President to do so – following John F Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.
The US President will then wrap up his tour of Dublin with a banquet dinner at Dublin Castle that evening.
On Friday, Biden will travel to Ballina in Co. Mayo – the home of his great-great-great-grandfather Edward Blewitt, who emigrated to the US in 1850 and settled in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
The 80-year-old will conclude his visit with a public address outside St Muredach’s Cathedral in Ballina by the river Moy on Friday evening.
It’s understood Edward Blewitt supplied the bricks for that same church back in 1828.
Irish artists, including The Chieftains, The Coronas and The Academic, will also perform for spectators before his public address.
President Biden will then head back to the US via Dublin Airport on Friday night.
