US President Joe Biden was in Dundalk, Co. Louth on Wednesday.
The 80-year-old stopped off at McAteers The Food House, a gourmet food store and deli, during his walk about and bought some sweet treats.
The shop’s owner Jerome McAteer has told The Irish Examiner that Biden bought a lemon meringue, chocolate eclairs, bread and butter pudding, pear and almond cake, and a mug with an image of a dog on it.
He paid with a €50 note and gave a €10 euro tip to some of the workers who have special needs.
Jerome said: “He was talking a lot about his Irish background.”
When asked if the president was how he expected, the shop owner replied: “He was taller, he was younger looking, he had amazing teeth. He has just a really easy manner and he was absolutely brilliant with the special needs kids.”
Biden is now in Dublin, and he will meet with Michael D. Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin later this morning.
The 80-year-old will then have a meeting with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at the Farmleigh estate.
Varadkar described President Biden’s upcoming visit as “an opportunity to celebrate and renew the strong political, economic and personal ties that bind our two countries”.
Adding that it would be a “privileged and special moment,” Leo said: “Joe Biden has always been a friend of Ireland. Over many decades, and to this day, he has supported the cause of peace in Ireland and the Good Friday Agreement. He stood with us as we navigated the difficult consequences of Brexit.”
“When we spoke recently in the White House, President Biden was clear that in celebrating the Good Friday Agreement, we should be looking ahead, not backwards. We need to continue working together as true partners to fulfil the potential of all the people who call this island their home.”
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.
It is understood that he will be staying in the 5-star hotel The Conrad while in Dublin.
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.
You can register to attend the public event here.
President Biden will then head back to the US via Dublin Airport on Friday night.
