US President Joe Biden told Irish elected officials he was “coming home” in an emotional speech on a visit to his ancestral homeland.

– I’m home, Biden said in Irish to applause and cheers, before he switched to English again.

– I only wish I could stay here longer, he added.

On Thursday, he became the fourth US president to address the National Assembly in Dublin after John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. In the evening, a banquet was held at Dublin Castle.

– Yes, mom, you said it would happen, Biden said at the start of his speech and looked up at the sky. On Wednesday, he met with a distant relative of his mother. Biden’s maternal great-grandfather left County Louth, Ireland, for the United States in 1849.

On Friday, the trip continued to meet relatives from the other side of the family in the village of Ballina in County Mayo on Ireland’s west coast, also where Biden’s ancestors came from.

Among the relatives he will meet is business owner Joe Blewitt, who works as a plumber.

– It’s emotional. This is a very proud day for the family and for Ireland. Ballina was very special to him, Blewitt told AFP.

The visit to Northern Ireland and Ireland was one of the longest overseas trips of the Biden presidency. The reason for the visit was the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of armed conflict between republicans and unions.

On Wednesday, he urged political leaders in Northern Ireland to do more to form a government, promising significant US investment like carrots.

©NTB/TV2