WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on Friday attended the annual Friends of Ireland Caucus St. Patrick’s Day luncheon at the United States Capitol hosted by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana.
Biden was one of the 26 legislators who founded the caucus in 1981.
Johnson introduced Biden to the luncheon guests as “someone who is known everywhere as America’s most famous Irishman.”
Biden celebrated his Irish heritage, diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Ireland and pushed for support of Ukraine, Israel and Gaza in his speech.
Among attendees at the luncheon was Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland.
Accompanied by bagpipes, Biden, Varadkar and Johnson walked down the steps of the Capitol to the presidential motorcade.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of U.S.-Irish diplomatic relations. The United States, in fact, was the first nation to establish formal diplomatic ties with the newly independent Ireland in 1924.
Irish prime ministers have been frequent visitors to the United States over the decades, but the tradition of annual visits at St. Patrick’s Day was begun during the presidency of Bill Clinton. It was Clinton, of course, who helped forge the 1998 peace agreement that effectively ended the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.