US President Joe Biden is in Ireland for a four-day trip with a massive security operation underway in several parts of the country.
The 80-year-old touched down at Belfast International Airport shortly after 9.20pm on Tuesday in Air Force One.
He’s due to fly to Dublin Airport on Wednesday afternoon before jumping on one of the official US presidential helicopters, Marine One, for the short hop to Louth, where visits to Carlingford and Dundalk are scheduled for the afternoon and evening.
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Numerous engagements in Dublin are due to take place on Wednesday night and Thursday, including trips to Phoenix Park, the Dail and Dublin Castle.
On Friday, he’s set to board Air Force One again for a flight to Knock Airport. The devout Catholic is due to stop off at Knock Shrine before giving his final address outside St Muredach’s Cathedral in Ballina, Co Mayo.
On Saturday morning he’s set to depart Ireland and head back to the States.
Where is Joe Biden now? Full schedule and times
Tuesday
Joe Biden arrived on Tuesday night, touching down at Belfast International Airport in Air Force One shortly after 9.20pm. He was greeted off the tarmac by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
He was then whisked away in a convoy of dozens of blacked-out cars, many of them bulletproof, to the Grand Central Hotel in Belfast.
Many parts of Belfast were impassable from early on Tuesday, with the streets around the hotel where Mr Biden stayed closed off and blocked with heavy iron barriers. There was a ring of steel around much of the rest of the city too with more road closures and no parking being enforced in other areas.
It is understood the US Secret Service booked out two full floors at one of the city’s largest hotels for Mr Biden’s entourage, which, when press are included, comes close to 1,000. But the first events of an extensive presidential itinerary will begin in Belfast on Wednesday.
Wednesday
Mr Biden will meet Mr Sunak again for coffee on Wednesday morning.
Mr Biden will then officially open Belfast’s new University of Ulster campus on York Street and make his first public address of the week.
He’s due to finish up in Belfast city shortly after 2pm and will be whisked away to Belfast International Airport again for a flight to Dublin Airport on Air Force One, arriving at around 4pm.
He’ll then jump on one of the official US presidential helicopters, Marine One, for the short hop to Louth. He is due to visit Kilwirra Cemetary at 4.15pm and then Carlingford Castle at 5.20pm. The castle is close to where one of his great, great grandfathers, Owen Finnegan emigrated from in the 1840s.
At 6.45pm there is a community event in Dundalk. Thousands are expected to line the streets for his official public walkabout where they can try and catch a glimpse of one of the most powerful men in the world.
Mr Biden is expected to return to Dublin for a State dinner in Dublin Castle on Wednesday evening.
Thursday
Mr Biden is expected to start Thursday morning with a meeting with President Michael D Higgins at Aras an Uachtarain, where he will likely ring the Peace Bell and plant a tree before moving on to nearby Farmleigh for discussions with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
All entrances to Phoenix Park, including pedestrian gates, will be shut from 5pm on Wednesday to facilitate the visit. All park gates will remain closed for 24 hours, reopening at 5pm on Thursday.
In the afternoon, Mr Biden will become the fourth US president to address the Oireachtas, following JFK in 1963, Ronald Reagan in 1984 and Bill Clinton in 1995.
Dubliners have been warned road closures will be in place with a major Garda presence across the city.
Friday
On Friday, the US President boards Air Force One for a short flight to Knock Airport and onwards to another of his ancestral homelands, Co Mayo.
Following an engagement at Knock shrine for the devout Catholic and a stop-off at a genealogy centre, he will give his final address outside St Muredach’s Cathedral in Ballina.
The Ballina event is free and open to members of the public. Gates will open at 5.30pm and the programme begins at 7pm.
Saturday
On Saturday morning, it’s wheels up again for Air Force One for the last time this week as it departs Ireland for home soil.
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