Taoiseach Leo Varadkar praised US President Joe Biden’s successful trip to Ireland and hailed Ireland’s ally in the White House, seeing Biden off from Ireland West (Knock) Airport on Friday evening. Thousands of people attended Biden’s speech in Ballina, Co Mayo, with Varadkar saying the visit “had the feeling of a homecoming.” The visit was also used for business, with meetings between agriculture ministers discussing food security and prices and the Tánaiste meeting with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. Biden had previously visited Co Louth to see where some of his family came from and tour the shrine at Knock.

The Taoiseach of Ireland, Leo Varadkar, has praised the successful visit of US President Joe Biden to Ireland, calling it a “homecoming”. Varadkar saw Biden off from Ireland West (Knock) Airport on Friday evening after thousands of people had attended a speech in Ballina, Co Mayo where Biden had waved Irish and American flags. Varadkar said that the visit had “cemented Irish-US relations”. Biden had visited Co Louth to trace some of his family heritage, as well as the heritage centre and shrine at Knock. Varadkar stated that there was also business conducted on the trip with a large delegation present, including cabinet secretaries and members of Congress. He had a private meeting with Biden on Thursday to discuss Northern Ireland, the US-Irish relationship and the war in Ukraine, and the two had met previously in Washington DC over St Patrick’s Day. Biden’s speech at Ballina saw him express his connection with the town and his Irish heritage, saying: “Over the years stories of this place have become part of my soul, part of my family lore”.