On Friday, during the last day of his visit to Ireland, US President Joe Biden will return to his roots in County Mayo. This is where his great grandfather Edward Blewitt hailed from.
On Friday night, he will speak at a homecoming celebration outside St. Muredach’s Cathedral in the town of Ballina, Ireland . Up to 20,000 people are expected to line the streets of the town for the event
The organizers plan to present the president with a brick from the last surviving piece of his ancestral home’s fireplace in the town.
‘Welcome home’
The mayor of Ballina, Mark Duffy, stated that people eagerly awaited the arrival of the president. They are describing it as a homecoming event where he has family and friends in the area.
He emphasized the sincerity of the ties and hoped that they would receive respect. Mags Downey Martin of Ballina Chamber of Commerce expressed her excitement. She said it was an epic, unbelievable, out of this world experience for Ballina that cannot be quantified.
She mentioned that the president had visited the town in 2016 as vice president,. But this time it was a very different but equally important and symbolic experience as he decided to come back to his home in County Mayo.
Irish musicians, including The Academic, The Chieftains, and The Coronas, will entertain the crowd at St. Muredach’s Cathedral on Friday.
