His phone rings constantly with calls from locals and the world's media as he prepares to welcome a relative — U.S. President Joe Biden. “He said, ‘I’m going to come back into Ballina.’ And sure to God he’s going to come back into Ballina,” Blewitt said. The Irish Family History Centre says Biden “is among the most ‘Irish’ of all U.S. Presidents” — 10 of his 16 great-great grandparents were from the Emerald Isle. The trip is also a reminder of the central role of Irish Americans in U.S. political life. “There is a kind of echo of that story that can be found in the Irish experience.

Source: The Herald April 08, 2023 19:57 UTC