Joe Biden will conclude his four day trip to the island of Ireland by visiting his ancestors’ hometown in Co Mayo on Friday, after urging Britain to work more closely with Dublin to prevent violence in Northern Ireland.
Mr Biden may visit a hospice dedicated to his late son Beau, and he is set to speak in Ballina at a cathedral to which his great-great-great grandfather once sold 27,000 bricks, helping him to travel to America in 1851.
In a speech to the Irish parliament on Thursday, 25 years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, the US president said “peace is precious, it still needs its champions, it still needs to be nurtured”, adding: “I think that the United Kingdom should be working closer with Ireland in this endeavour.
“Political violence must never be allowed again to take hold on this island.”
As he became the fourth US president in history to address the Dublin parliament, Mr Biden toasted the “Irish blood” spilled in the American War of Independence.
