Joe Biden will visit Ireland in 2023, US ambassador says

James Cox

American president Joe Biden will visit Ireland next year, according to the US Ambassador.

Mr Biden has expressed a desire to visit the country on a number of occasions since his election and was invited to visit by Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

Ambassador Claire Cronin said the exact timing still isn't clear.

Ms Cronin told Newstalk: "I have no doubt that president Biden will be coming to Ireland at some point in 2023.

"I don't know when, but he has expressed a strong desire to do so, but I have no clue when that might be."

Mr Biden often speaks about his family roots, which can be traced back to Mayo and Louth.

He made a visit to Ireland in 2016, when he was vice president.

Paul Allen's PR firm was hired by Louth County Council to organise the visit of Mr Biden in 2016, having previously worked on the presidential visits of former US presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

We're in heaven, man!

Mr Allen previously spoke to BreakingNews.ie about Mr Biden's visit to Ireland.

The Cooley Peninsula in Co Louth is the ancestral home of the Biden family, and Mr Allen said he was "blown away" by the area.

"One of the best moments was when one of the secret service agents said to me, 'where the hell are we?', as we got out of the car in this kind of narrow, boreen place.

"Behind me Biden shouts, 'we're in heaven, man!' He was blown away by the place. Anyone who visits Carlingford can't help but be taken with the natural beauty of the place."