Mayo County Council spent €117,000 on Joe Biden visit
Ken Foxe
It was a speech that catapulted the county to worldwide fame, with US president Joe Biden’s famous signoff of ‘Mayo for Sam’.
And now it’s emerged that hosting the historic event proved relatively economical for Mayo County Council, with less than €120,000 spent on a visit that yielded an enormous global audience.
Among the bills were tar patching for pot-holed roads, chewing gum removal for the streets of Ballina, and several thousand euro for flags and bunting.
A breakdown of costs from Mayo County Council details how just under €117,000 was spent on the event, which included donations to voluntary groups and hefty floral bills.
Litter picking on the N17 and another local road that the US president would travel on was carried out at “short notice” and cost €1,770.
Works near Knock Airport involving the repainting of “highway markings” came to €14,320 while a further €8,184 was spent on new signage and upgrades of existing ones.
The purchase of traffic cones in large quantities came to €5,193 while 150 flags each of both the United States and Ireland cost €3,321.
The bill for two larger flags for each country was €184.50, according to records that were released under FOI by Mayo County Council.
Surface cleaning and gum removal on four streets around Ballina cost €13,620, which covered the cost of three vans and six staff.
There was a bill of €700 for “turfing” at the Enniscoe Estate, where president Biden stopped off to learn about his family history.
The local authority also made three donations to local groups for the work they carried out during the visit to Mayo.
A sum of €5,000 was paid to Ballina 2023, another €3,500 to Ballina Chamber of Commerce, and €3,500 to Ballina Community Clean Up.
There were multiple invoices for plants and flowers, including the purchase of a Dutch hoe and a “gorilla broom” for €160.
Other invoices detailed the purchase of basket plants, bedding, heather, assorted flowers, and a bucket of Chicken Chit manure.
Sixty tonnes of decorative chip were bought too, with two invoices submitted, each for €1,906.
There were also staff costs run up with council employees asked to work extra hours to help ensure all the events ran smoothly.
A total of €23,946 was paid out in the Claremorris Municipal District and another €19,000 in the Ballina Municipal District.
A spokeswoman for Mayo County Council said they had been delighted with the boost for the county both home and abroad from the presidential visit in April.
She said: “President Biden’s visit put County Mayo on the map for millions of people around the globe thanks to the world-wide media coverage that his visit garnered.
“The visit showcased all that Mayo has to offer as both a tourism destination and as a modern and vibrant location that is open for investment opportunities for companies from around the world.”
