Joe Biden to address Oireachtas as Ireland visit ramps up

By David Young and Cillian Sherlock, PA

US President Joe Biden will address the Oireachtas on Thursday as his visit to Ireland continues with a series of official engagements in Dublin.

Before his address to both the Dáil and Seanad, Mr Biden will visit President Michael D Higgins at his official residence in Phoenix Park and will also have a meeting with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at nearby Farmleigh House.

At Farmleigh, the president will be invited to watch a sports demonstration by young gaelic games players.

After his parliamentary address on Thursday afternoon, Mr Biden will attend a banquet in his honour at Dublin Castle hosted by Mr Varadkar.

Mr Biden is on a four-day trip to the island of Ireland.

His first full day of engagements on Wednesday began in Northern Ireland and saw him deliver a keynote address in Belfast.

In his speech to Ulster University, Mr Biden expressed hopes of a return to powersharing at Stormont as he insisted stable devolved government could deliver an economic windfall for the region.

His visit north of the Border came as the region marks the 25th anniversary of the landmark Good Friday peace accord that created Stormont’s institutions.

After his address in Belfast, Mr Biden travelled to Dublin and from there to Co Louth, where he can trace some of his ancestors.

Thank you for the warm welcome to Ireland, Taoiseach @LeoVaradkar.

Today and always, I'm proud to call you a friend and partner as our nations stand shoulder to shoulder to defend our shared core values. pic.twitter.com/psAS250SY3

— President Biden (@POTUS) April 12, 2023

People lined the streets in Carlingford and Dundalk to cheer and wave American flags as Mr Biden arrived.

In a speech at a pub in Dundalk on Wednesday evening he described how he felt like he had come home.

His remarks also included an apparent gaffe when the president appeared to confuse the All Blacks rugby team with the Black and Tans, a contentious police unit from the War of Independence era.

Mr Biden was speaking at the Windsor Bar in Dundalk, when he referred to the shamrock tie that he was wearing.

The US president was thanking relative and former Irish rugby player Rob Kearney for the gift of the Irish team tie after a victory against the New Zealand rugby team at Soldier Field in Chicago in 2016.

Mr Biden appeared to mix up the nickname of the New Zealand team, the All Blacks, with the Black and Tans.

The Black and Tans is a name for additional part-time officers recruited to bolster Royal Irish Constabulary numbers in Ireland during the War of Independence, many of whom gained a violent reputation.

He said: “See this tie I have, this shamrock tie?

“It was given to by one of these guys right here, who’s a hell of a rugby player who beat the hell out of the Black and Tans.”

Correcting himself after grimacing, Mr Biden continued: “Ah god. But, but it was when you were at Soldier Field, wasn’t it? Chicago.

“After it was all over he gave my brother, allegedly for me – but if it wasn’t I still took it – I still got the tie. I wore it with great pride.”