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The next stop on the Biden family Ireland tour: Joe and Hunter step onto Air Force One to visit shrine – as Pence slams him for prioritizing a ‘vacation’ over issues facing the U.S. and not holding a press conference
- Biden will visit an Irish shrine on the last full day of his trip to Ireland
- He also visits clinic associated with Beau Biden, plus another genealogy stop
- Final speech will be outside cathedral in town where Blewitt ancestors are from
President Joe Biden landed at Knock Airport on Friday afternoon as he makes a personal pilgrimage to County Mayo on the final day of his visit.
Having tracked down some his family Finnegan connections on the eastern side of the island in County Louth, he will visit the region that has family connections in the Blewitt branch of his family tree.
Former Vice President Mike Pence – a potential 2024 rival – blasted his journey to an ancestral homeland the men share in light of the Pentagon security leak.
‘Well, I have to tell you, I’ve been to Ireland, it is a beautiful place, my grandfather immigrated from Ireland, Pence said in an interview from his home in Indiana on Friday.
‘But with everything this country is dealing with: inflation at 40-year high, American people struggling, China provocation, Russia on the move in eastern Europe, I don’t get what appears to be a family vacation in Ireland taking precedence and the president not doing a full-blown press conference,’ Pence added.
President Joe Biden boards Air Force One at the start of his last full day of activities in Ireland. He was accompanied by son Hunter Biden, sister Valerie Biden Owens, and top aides
Biden will visit the Knock Shrine, an Irish pilgrimage site that has been visited by Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis, as well as Mother Teresa.
It is one of several stops that will have the president once again pondering faith and family, a day after he addressed the Irish parliament and spoke at a banquet.
According to the shrine, a heavenly apparition of Mary, mother of Jesus, appeared there in 1879.
Biden, a practicing Catholic, arrived here on Tuesday, and hasn’t had any time for worship on his schedule.
He is expected to engage in private prayer there, according to local media.
Then, it’s back to following his trail of ancestors, this time with a visit to the North Mayo Heritage and Genealogical Centre. The area is where Biden’s Blewitt relatives are from.
As Biden has been referencing throughout his trip, his great-great-great Grandfather Edward Blewitt the town of Ballina for Scranton during the Great Famine.
Biden had a more secular day Thursday when he addressed the Irish parliament
Biden was hosted at a banquet on the third day of his trip
Biden will speak outside St. Muredach’s Cathedral in Ballina, County Mayo, shortly before flying back to the U.S.
The president has distant relatives living in the area
Residents of Ballina are preparing for Biden’s visit
It is Ballina that Biden and his advance team have chosen for the final speech of his trip. He has an evening address planned outside Saint Muredach’s Cathedral in County Mayo.
It is certain to have a picturesque backdrop of the Cathedral, located on the River Moy.
Earlier in his day, which starts around lunchtime, Biden plans a private visit to Mayo Hospice, a center with a plaque bearing the name of his late son, Beau, who Biden referenced Thursday during his speech to the Irish general assembly.
Biden ‘turned the sod’ there during a 2017 groundbreaking.
Following his speech, Biden heads back to the U.S., although he declared ‘I’m at home’ during his address to the Irish parliament, in his latest attestation for his love of Ireland.
But he’s not ready for the White House just yet. The president plans to spend the weekend at yet another of his homes: his Delaware beach house.
