President Joe Biden has declared he is home as he made a historic address to a packed Irish Parliament where he spoke of the strength of the Irish-US relationship and promised a future of unlimited shared possibilities. The US president was welcomed with sustained, rapturous applause as he entered the chamber in Dublin’s Leinster House to deliver a speech on Thursday. Asking to be forgiven for his attempt at speaking the Irish language, he said “Ta me sa bhaile” (I am home). The Associated Press has the story:
Joe Biden: US-Ireland Partnership is Historic
Newslooks- DUBLIN (AP)
Holding up his own family history as an example, President Joe Biden on Thursday told lawmakers in a packed parliament building that the story of Irish immigrants setting sail for the U.S. is at the very heart of “what binds Ireland and America together.”
“Like so many countries around the world, though perhaps more than most, the United States was shaped by Ireland,” Biden said in address to a joint sitting of the Oireachtas in Leinster House. “And the values we share remain to this day the core of the historic partnership between our people and our governments.”
In his address, Biden stressed the importance of economic ties, a united front on the war in Ukraine and a shared urgency to manage climate change. Biden addressed the parliament as part of his four-day trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland, where he also met with political leaders and took a whirlwind tour of his ancestral homeland.
Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaí l, speaker of the Dail, parliament’s lower chamber, told Biden that Ireland has benefitted “immensely” from American investment, and noted that it goes both ways — Ireland is the ninth largest source of foreign direct investment in the U.S.
“Long may this bilateral investment continue,” Ó Fearghaíl said to cheers. He welcomed Biden “home” as he introduced him. Biden was the fourth U.S. president to address the Irish parliament, after John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.
For Biden, Ireland been the backdrop for discussion about his favorite themes, like dignity, “possibilities,” democracy — and poetry. He addressed parliament on what would have been the 84th birthday of his favorite poet, Seamus Heaney. Ó Fearghaíl gave Biden a signed copy of Heaney’s poems, and Heaney’s widow was present for the speech, watching as Biden quoted “The Cure at Troy.”
The president spoke with poetic flourishes about how the two nations could “dream together over horizons we can’t see.” He talked about visiting County Louth this week, gazing out at the water from the stone balcony of Carlingford Castle, which would have been the last Irish landmark that Owen Finnegan, Biden’s maternal great-great-grandfather, saw before sailing for New York in 1849.
“These stories are at the very heart of what binds Ireland and America together,” he said. “They speak to a history, defined by our dreams.”
The 80-year-old Biden also reflected on his age, something he rarely does publicly, saying he was “at the end of my career, not the beginning.” He told the Irish lawmakers “you can see how old I am,” saying he comes to the job more experienced than any other president in American history.
“It doesn’t make me better or worse, but it gives me few excuses,” he said. Biden is expected to run for reelection, and he would be 82 when he started his second term.
Earlier Thursday, Biden met with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s prime minister, praising the nation for its humanitarian work welcoming Ukrainian refugees. Ireland has hosted nearly 80,000 refugees from Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, and it has been supportive of U.S-led efforts on the war. Biden said he was impressed by Ireland’s commitment.
“I think our values are the same,” Biden told Varadkar. “And I think our concerns are the same. So I’m really looking forward to continuing to work with you.”
In his first stop of the day, Biden met with Irish President Michael D. Higgins at his grand Dublin residence. The two octogenarian leaders clasped hands and laughed as they walked the red carpet inside, where Biden signed the guest book with a writerly missive for Ireland’s poet-president: “As the Irish saying goes, your feet will bring you where your heart is. It’s an honor to return.”
Biden then shoveled dirt around a freshly planted Irish oak, not far from one planted years earlier by then-President Barack Obama. He also rang the Peace Bell, unveiled in 2008 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of violence in Northern Ireland. Biden clanged the bell four times, including one “for all my Irish ancestors, and a fourth one for peace.”
Then he thanked Higgins, who turns 82 next week.
“I’m feeling great, and I’m learning a lot,” Biden said Thursday. “I know it sounds silly, but there’s many Irish-Americans, like my relatives, who’ve never come back here.”
Earlier this week, Biden visited Belfast in Northern Ireland, where he marked the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday agreements that ended years of sectarian violence. The U.S.-brokered deal brought peace to a region of the United Kingdom where “the Troubles” left some 3,600 people dead in bombings and other attacks.
In his address Thursday evening, Biden said the United Kingdom “should be working closer” with Ireland to support Northern Ireland. His reminder of the importance of maintaining a quarter century of peace in Northern Ireland is likely to irk some British Conservatives and Northern Ireland unionists, who are suspicious of US interference.
Biden arrived in the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday after his appearance in Northern Ireland. Crowds lined five-deep and waited for eight hours to catch a glimpse of Biden in County Louth, where his mother’s family is from. In the town of Carlingford, the Democratic president toured a castle, gazing out over the sea where his ancestors sailed toward America.
From inside a packed old pub with a sticky wooden floor, Biden acknowledged that his ancestors emigrated to the United States to escape famine, but he added, “When you’re here, you wonder why anyone would ever want to leave.”
The president was elated by the dive into his Irish heritage, which he often cites as a driving force in his public and private life. According to the Irish Family History Centre, Biden “is among the most ‘Irish’ of all U.S. Presidents.” Ten of his 16 great-great-grandparents were from the Emerald Isle.
