Following a speech in UK-ruled Northern Ireland, Biden—the only Catholic president in American history—flew south on Wednesday to visit the spot where some of his 19th-century Irish ancestors disembarked.
Pro-UK unionists had already accused Biden of harboring “anti-British” sentiment during his one-night visit to Belfast, despite his efforts to promote economic growth there 25 years after a US-brokered peace accord.
US President in Ireland
In front of a crowd at Belfast’s Ulster University, Biden, who considers Ireland to be “part of my soul,” expressed concern for the peace of the entire divided island.
He advertised the promise of investment from “scores of major American corporations” in exchange for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) ending its boycott of Northern Ireland’s Stormont legislature to restore political stability.
- US President to visit the spot where some of his 19th-century Irish ancestors disembarked.
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy made history by becoming the first sitting president to visit Ireland.
- Biden will reiterate “the deep and enduring ties between our countries” in his speech on Thursday.
In June 1963, five months before he was slain, John Fitzgerald Kennedy made history by becoming the first sitting president to visit Ireland. The vice president will speak to the Irish parliament, known as the Oireachtas, in Dublin, following Biden’s example of Kennedy.
In his speech, Kennedy mentioned that his family, the Fitzgeralds, the earls of Kildare, previously owned the parliament building, Leinster House. A smile spread across his face as he stated, “I am not claiming this.”.
Instead, he focused on “the many and the lasting links which have bound the Irish and the Americans since the first days,” when both were involved in conflict with the British.
Biden, unlike JFK, cannot claim to be descended from nobles, although some of his ancestors fled starvation under British control and gathered in scruffy Scranton, Pennsylvania.
According to senior White House adviser Amanda Sloat, Biden will reiterate “the deep and enduring historical, cultural, political, and economic ties between our countries” in his speech on Thursday.
