Biden will host Taoiseach Leo Varadkar for St. Patrick’s Day
President Joe Biden will host Irish leader Leo Varadkar for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration at the White House on Friday, after the COVID pandemic has brought festivities to a screeching halt for the past two years.
Green will be the theme of the day amid a jam-packed schedule of holiday-related activities, including an Oval Office meeting, a Capitol Hill luncheon hosted by speaker Kevin McCarthy, and Irish eggs for breakfast with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Varadkar’s visit comes after Biden said he plans to visit both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland next month, marking the 25th anniversary of the US-brokered Good Friday Agreement.
The agreement helped end the sectarian violence that has raged for three decades over whether Northern Ireland should unite with Ireland or remain part of the United Kingdom.
“I want to recognize the central role the US has played in the peace process on our island, moving it forward and critical points,” Varadkar said Friday morning during his meeting with Harris.
The two men will also discuss the war in Ukraine when they meet in the Oval Office.
Vice President Kamala Harris toasts as she hosts a St. Patrick’s Day breakfast with Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, seated left
Prior to his meeting with Biden, Varadkar, known as the taoiseach, and his partner Matthew Barrett visited the Naval Observatory for breakfast with Harris and Second Lord Doug Emhoff. The menu said ‘Eggs St. Patrick’. It’s an Irish twist on Eggs Benedict.
Harris wore a green pantsuit for the occasion. The three men had cloverleaf in the breast pockets of their suit jackets.
Acknowledging Biden’s love of all things Irish, she noted, “He’s pretty exuberant in that joy and I’ve got the bug now.”
Later on Friday, the boy band One Direction and Irish singer Niall Horan will perform for leaders and guests at the White House.
Horan was one of five members of One Direction, the popular Anglo-Irish boy band from 2010, which sold more than 70 million records worldwide. The band officially broke up in January 2016.
During Friday’s visit, Varadkar is expected to present Biden with an engraved crystal bowl of shamrocks, a tradition that began in 1952.
Last year, on St. Patrick’s Day, then-Prime Minister Micheál Martin tested positive for COVID, which led to him meeting Biden virtually. And in 2021, Martin and Biden celebrated virtually because of the pandemic.
Varadkar, who served as Taoiseach from 2017 to 2020, returned to the role in December. He was last in Washington for St. Patrick’s Day when Donald Trump was president.
President Joe Biden is proud of his Irish roots and speaks of it often
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his partner Matt Barrett meet guests at the St. Patrick’s Day reception at the residence of the Irish Ambassadors on Thursday evening
Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff (right) greet Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (second from left) and his partner Matthew Barrett (left)
The holiday will become a tradition to celebrate at the White House. About 31.5 million U.S. residents claim Irish ancestry, second only to German, according to the Census Bureau.
Biden, in particular, is proud of his Irish roots, speaking of them often and quoting an Irish poet in most of his speeches.
His mother’s family – the Finnegans – were Irish-American immigrants.
The president has long made it clear that he wanted to visit Ireland as president, but Northern Ireland’s trading status caused diplomatic headaches when it came to a presidential visit.
But that obstacle was removed when Britain and the European Union agreed on the Windsor Framework, which opened the way for trade across the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Former One Direction member Irish singer Niall Horan performs at a St. Patrick’s Day reception at the White House on Friday
Under the Northern Ireland Protocol, Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, essentially remained in the European Union market, along with its neighbor the Republic of Ireland, an independent country when Britain voted to leave the EU to leave
The Windsor Framework will keep goods moving without upsetting the Good Friday Agreement.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak personally invited Biden to come when he met him in San Diego on Monday at an aukus event.
“I know it’s something very special and personal to you. We would like to have you,” the prime minister told the US president.
‘Twenty-five years. Seems like yesterday. Like yesterday,” Biden mused about Sunak’s invitation. “Thank you,” he added.
Biden last visited Ireland in an official capacity in 2016 as vice president. That visit included stops in Dublin, Mayo and Louth – the capital city plus the two counties of his ancestors.
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