US President Joe Biden has begun the final day of his Irish visit, visiting the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Knock with a private prayer at the Apparition Chapel before moving on to the Mayo-Roscommon Hospice in Castlebar where he viewed a plaque commemorating his late son Beau, who passed away at the age of 46 in 2015. He then stopped at the North Mayo Heritage and Genealogical Centre in Crossmolina where he was briefed about his Mayo roots before delivering a speech outside St Muredach’s Cathedral in Ballina where thousands of people had gathered. The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has hailed the visit, calling it very successful with no difficult conversations about Ireland’s tax status, and stressing that Ireland is not a tax haven. However, the issue of undocumented Irish in the US was not discussed on this visit, although this was on the agenda during Mr Varadkar’s visit to Washington last month.
