Biden gears up for visit to Ireland as Irish relatives prepare special homecoming
Ballina, Ireland - US President Joe Biden is set to land in Belfast on Tuesday at the start of a visit to Northern Ireland and Ireland.
Biden is expected to arrive in the Northern Irish capital on Tuesday evening and to start his program on Wednesday, when he will meet British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The US president also plans to address a gathering of students.
A focus of the visit is to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that ended the conflict between the largely Protestant supporters of continued union with Britain and the largely Catholic backers of a united Ireland.
Biden is to leave for Dublin on Wednesday, where he will address parliament.
Biden's third cousin prepares for Irish visit
The president, who is of Irish descent, also plans to visit the hometowns of his ancestors. Among them is Ballina in County Mayo, which is gearing up for an occasion unlike the small town has ever seen.
Joe Blewitt, a third cousin of Biden, said there is a "great buzz" in the area ahead of the big arrival.
Preparations are well under way for the event on Friday, which will also feature a public address at St. Muredach’s Cathedral.
Biden's great-great-great grandfather Edward Blewitt sold 27,000 bricks to the cathedral in 1827, which helped him to afford to buy tickets for himself and his family to sail to America decades later in 1851.
Meanwhile, Joe Blewitt was helping with final preparations on Tuesday when he spoke to the PA news agency.
He said: "We are building the stage at the moment. I am very excited, there is a great buzz all around the town. It has just been crazy."
"The town will never have known anything like it, it is just great."
Cover photo: PAUL FAITH / AFP