Ireland prepares to welcome Biden, while keeping an eye on the health of Jimmy Carter and the Pope
Everyone has seen the helicopters. And all the locals in Carlingford, County Louth, seem to have a story about bumping into burly, well-dressed Americans with earbuds running their eyes over routes in and out of town.
On Wednesday, the White House finally made it official, announcing that next week President Joe Biden will visit Louth, the Irish county of a branch of his ancestors, leaving just one question for excited residents.
Will former President Jimmy Carter and the Pope survive the week so Biden’s happy homecoming isn’t overshadowed?
“It’s been making headlines here in Ireland for the past few days, Jimmy Carter’s health condition,” said Andrea McKevitt, a city councilor and distant relation to Biden.
“It’s a real shame and I think everyone in Louth and Ballina is hoping he makes it next weekend.”
Ireland is holding its breath over the health of 98-year-old former President Jimmy Carter, fearing his death could disrupt President Joe Biden’s trip next week. At least Pope Francis is out of the woods after being hospitalized with bronchitis
A distant relative of Biden, Eamonn Thornton is known for his van adorned with messages of support for the president. He said Co. Louth is buzzing with excitement
Biden flies to Belfast, Northern Ireland on Tuesday. From there he will continue his way to Dublin, the capital of the Republic of Ireland.
The journey includes visits to Louth on the east coast and to Ballina, in County Mayo, to the west, from where the two Irish parts of the Biden family left for America in the nineteenth century.
But rumors circulated this week that it could all be canceled if Biden were to deliver the eulogy at a funeral for Carter, whose office recently announced he was receiving hospice care.
His health has become an important topic of conversation for everyone. People bring it up in conversation without asking.
“At least the Pope has recovered,” John said at the Dublin Airport car rental counter, referring to Francis’ bronchitis. “Wonderful you might say.”
National broadcaster RTE ran a radio segment discussing the health of the 98-year-old former president.
For now, Biden’s travel schedule remains a secret. Or just undecided. Leaving people behind in Carlingford and the small coastal town of Whitestown, where Biden’s great-great-grandfather Owen Finnegan once lived, desperate to know if he will return to Lily Finnegan’s pub, which he frequented as vice president in 2016.
‘We’d like to see him. It would be great to say America’s president has been here,” says Marie McGrath, 63, whose tidy home with an Easter garland on the door is across the street from the pub.
“My husband was there talking to the bartender and he didn’t know last week,” she added. “So we don’t know if he’s coming.”
Marie McGrath with a photo of her husband Michael meeting Biden at his pub in 2016, when they met the then-Vice President at the pub across the street from her home in Whitestown
Biden met locals at Lily Finnegan’s pub, which was once owned by his family. Biden is descended from Owen Finnegan who left the area in the mid-19th century
She said she may be Biden’s fifth cousin, but isn’t sure. She was one of the lucky ones to be invited to the pub for the last visit.
“We all went down and took pictures,” she said. “It was a lovely afternoon.”
That day there was also Eamonn Thornton, 73, another distant cousin of some kind, who is known locally for his van.
It is emblazoned with a statement of support for Biden. ‘From Whitestown Co. Louth to the White House, Washington,” it says.
During the 2016 visit, he said Biden made a promise that few believed at the time.
“He said, I’m coming back as president,” Thornton said with a chuckle. “We were like… okay… okay. But it’s starting to pay off now.”
Biden arrived in County Mayo in 2016 on his last official visit to Ireland. The then Vice President spent six days in the country visiting Dublin, Mayo and Louth
Joe Blewitt and his wife Deirdre drink champagne under a mural of their third cousin Joe Biden as locals celebrate Biden’s election in the 2020 County Mayo town of Ballina
He said Biden was emotional during that visit and a later private trip, which saw him interact with Irish relatives for the first time and visit the old graveyard where his ancestors are buried.
This time will be no different, he said. As long as Carter stays healthy.
“People say he’ll make it next week?” he added.
For the people of Louth, the visit goes beyond the personal connection. Ireland’s smallest county borders the border with Northern Ireland.
That makes this year’s anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement – which ended decades of political violence known as the Troubles, as Republicans and loyalists battled over Northern Ireland’s future – all the more significant.
McKevitt, who represents Fianna Fail’s party and was a guest at the White House’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration this year, said: “Part of the reason for Biden’s journey is to celebrate 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement. celebrate, and we’re in a Border County here, right.
“Many people have been through it and know what the Troubles are here.”
The overwhelming feeling is now one of euphoria, she added.
“We’ve seen all the helicopters flying around in the past few weeks, the Secret Service going to different places,” she said. “I think that even makes it feel like it’s Christmas Eve.”