Joe Biden's cousins prepare warm Irish welcome for return of shoemakers’ kin

The US President visited his ancestral homeland in 2016 when he was vice president

US President Joe Biden is set to arrive in Belfast on Tuesday for his tour of the island of Ireland. AFP

Irish relatives of President Joe Biden are eagerly awaiting his arrival amid a “euphoria” of excitement around the American leader’s historic visit.

The finishing touches are being put to the ‘Welcome Home Joe’ signs, the American and Irish flags are being unfurled and locals in the President’s ancestral hometowns are preparing to roll out the red carpet for their guest of honour.

Mr Biden will jet into Belfast on Tuesday for a five-day trip to the island of Ireland, which will include several engagements north and south of the border.

After attending commemorations of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in Belfast, the US leader will travel to the Republic of Ireland capital Dublin. He will also stop in Co Louth and Co Mayo, where his ancestors lived before they emigrated to the US.

In the town of Carlingford in Louth, business owners are preparing to welcome Mr Biden back seven years after he visited as vice president.

Mr Biden can trace his ancestors to the nearby seaside village of Whitestown where his great-great grandfather Owen Finnegan once lived.

“There’s a great euphoria of excitement here in Co Louth as we eagerly await the visit of President Joe Biden back to his ancestral home,” said Andrea McKevitt, a local councillor and distant relative of Mr Biden.

In a video posted on Twitter, she said she “can’t wait to welcome my fifth cousin President Biden” back to the land of his roots.

Harry Jordan, owner of Carlingford Smoked Salmon, has concocted a special recipe in honour of the US President’s visit, and orders are pouring in. The "Potus 1” salmon is smoked using local whisky, apple wood and turf harvested from Irish bogs.

“I have a salmon smoked in his honour,” Mr Jordan told The National. “I have put the Irish and American flags on the label. It’s a one-off. I have orders taken for it already.

“I am retired now and just do it as a hobby, as a one-man band. But back when I had a restaurant president Bill Clinton and senator George Mitchell visited.

“They said [the salmon] was nice.

“Mitch McConnell also visited, and Jean Kennedy Smith, the former US ambassador to Ireland.”

Mr Jordan is hopeful that Mr Biden’s visit to Northern Ireland will reassure communities who are concerned about the future of tentative peace in the province. The restaurant owner lives so close to the border in the Republic of Ireland that he can see Northern Ireland from his home. Any resurgence of violence in the UK territory would have drastic consequences for people living on the other side of the boundary as well.

He said he hoped Mr Biden’s visit would help emphasise the importance of peace for people on either side of the border.

“I live on the border and my house is overlooking Northern Ireland, it’s only 600 metres away,” he said. “The Good Friday Agreement means my grandchildren can go to school in peace and come home in peace.”

Kevin Woods, who has earned the nickname of “Ireland’s Last Leprechaun Whisperer”, said President Biden was returning home rather than visiting a new place.

The Carlingford local, who runs a heritage site, told The National the presidential visit was hugely significant for the community and would emphasise the strong ties between Ireland and the US.

“We are welcoming him back because he is one of ours, even though his people have been gone for three or four generations,” Mr Woods said. “They were shoemakers from Whitestown. The last time he came here he went to see the remains of his ancestral home. Part of it is still there.”

Mr Woods said the visit would be culturally significant, given that more than 30 million US citizens claim Irish ancestry. It will also shine a light on the tourism industries in both countries that benefit from a constant stream of people visiting relatives and tracing ancestors.

“We get lots of people coming here from America. They are Irish-Americans. It goes both ways.”

The US President, meanwhile, has repeatedly said a trade deal with Britain is off the table if the terms of the Good Friday Agreement are not respected by the government.

Mr Biden’s tour of the island of Ireland comes at a sensitive time in Northern Ireland.

Scenes of violence against police during a dissident parade in Londonderry on Monday drew condemnation from politicians across Ireland.

A number of missiles were hurled by young people at a police vehicle monitoring the Easter parade in the Creggan area of the city.

The parade, organised by the Derry 1916 Commemoration Committee, started in the Central Drive area when a number of masked men in paramilitary-style dress carried the Irish flag and several republican banners.

A Police Service of Northern Ireland spokesman said: “Our officers have come under attack in Creggan, with petrol bombs and other objects thrown at their vehicle while in attendance at an unnotified Easter parade.

“No injuries have been reported at this time. We would appeal for calm.”