At the end of his visit to Ireland, US President Joe Biden was cheered in County Mayo in the northwest of the island. Biden visited the area where some of his ancestors came from on Friday as the final stop of a three-day stay. According to a BBC report, the 80-year-old cried when he met the priest at a Marian shrine who had given last rites to his son Beau, who died in 2015.
In Ballina, a small town with just 10,000 people, he wanted to say goodbye to Ireland in the evening with a big public event. The anticipation was palpable: “There’s no show like the Joe show” read a poster on the road leading into town. Thousands gathered around St Murdeachs Cathedral and the promenade along the River Moy.
Biden arrived in Ireland on Wednesday for a visit that was far more than an official visit with political talks. On the trip, the US President went in search of traces of his own origins and celebrated Irish-American friendship and immigration history. The 80-year-old said several times: “I’m at home”.
Big contingent for Biden’s farewell
In downtown Ballina, decorated with flags, people lined up in a kilometer-long queue in the evening despite the rain. “It’s like a fairy tale, like a movie,” gushed 30-year-old Owen Gardiner. Maire Ní Chathail, who is over 80 years old, didn’t want to miss the performance either. The devout Catholic was impressed by Biden for speaking so openly about his love for Ireland and his faith. “He’s a very genuine person,” she said.
About 20,000 people were expected in the evening – twice as many as the town has inhabitants. With performances by the Irish folk group The Chieftains and the rock bands The Coronas and The Academic, there was already a festival atmosphere before the speech. Biden chose St. Murdeach’s Cathedral as the background for his speech. His great-great-great-grandfather once supplied 27,000 bricks for the pillars of the nave. He was then able to finance the passage to America for himself and his family.
For Father Kieran Holmes, one of three priests at the cathedral, the visit is a “magnificent moment”. He told the German Press Agency: “It shows what Ireland has given the world.” Before the big “Joe Show”, Biden visited the Marian pilgrimage site of Our Lady Knock, which, like Ballina, is in County Mayo. Popes Francis and John Paul II have also been guests there.
The regular churchgoer is only the second Catholic incumbent in the White House after John F. Kennedy. The Democrat may also be hoping for votes from the many US citizens of Irish origin through the visit to Ireland. Biden has not yet made a definitive statement as to whether he intends to run again in next year’s presidential election.