Biden visits ancestral lands in Ireland
After a two-day visit to Northern Ireland, US President Joe Biden visited the towns of Carlingford and Dundalk in County Louth of the Republic of Ireland, where his grandparents lived before immigrating to the United States. Joined.
Biden visited Carlingford Castle in the town of Carlingford, where his maternal grandfather Owen Finnegan lived until 1849. “I feel like I’ve come home,” he said, answering the question.
Biden also visited a bar in Dundalk, near Carlingford, and gave a speech there. Biden, who visited the region with her son and his sister, said his ancestors left Ireland because of the great famine of 1845-1852.
“It’s a pleasure to be back,” Biden said, adding that County Louth held a special place in his mother’s heart.
Remembering his grandfather always telling him, “The best drop in your blood is Irish,” as a child, Biden also met with staff from the US Embassy in Dublin at Dublin Airport as part of his visit. to the Republic of Ireland. .
Addressing the firefighters who were among those who greeted him, Biden said: “I grew up in Claymont, a small town in Delaware. Claymont was an old steel town. My sister, my brother and I went to a small Catholic school called Santo Rosario. Across from the school was the Claymont Fire Department. All the people I grew up with were police officers, firefighters, or pastors. I was none of them and now I am here before you.
25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT
Biden, who arrived on the island of Ireland for a 4-day visit as part of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, representatives of 5 political parties in the Northern Ireland Parliament, in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, yesterday (April 12), gave a speech at its university.
Biden, who traveled to the Republic of Ireland after Northern Ireland, will meet President Michael Higgins and Prime Minister Leo Varadkar as part of their official contacts, which will run until May 14.
Biden is also expected to deliver a speech in the Irish Parliament.
Northern Ireland, which has been part of the British Empire since the British Empire’s first colony, the Island of Ireland, was the scene of conflict and terrorist incidents between Catholic separatists and England and pro-union Protestants from the 1960s until 1998. 3,500 people lost their lives in terrorist incidents that lasted 40 years.
Although the island was only at peace with the Good Friday Agreement signed in 1998, it was agreed to establish a regional government in Northern Ireland based on the association of the parties to the conflict. The texts, also known as the “Belfast Agreement”, form the basis of the regional government in force in Northern Ireland today. (AA)