FRIDAY THE 13 Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 US President Joe Biden's aircraft has landed at Knock airport as he returns to his roots in County Mayo. Mr Biden has links to the county through his great grandfather Edward Blewitt. The president is due to speak at a homecoming celebration outside St Muredach's Cathedral in Ballina on Friday night. A crowd of up to 20,000 people are expected to line the streets of the town for the event. President Biden and his sister Valerie Biden Owens were greeted by dignitaries at the airport. "It's good to be back," he said. It is thought that the president will be presented with a brick from a fireplace that is the last surviving piece of his ancestral home in Ballina. Mr Biden is making a couple of stop-offs on his way to Ballina, including Knock Shrine, a pilgrimage site for Catholics. In 1879 locals said they saw an apparition of Mary, Joseph, John the Evangelist, angels and an altar with a cross and a lamb (representing Jesus). According to Irish tourism sites, 1.5m pilgrims visit Knock Shrine every year. It is understood President Biden will make a private visit to the Mayo Roscommon Hospice in Castlebar that is dedicated to his son Beau, the former Delaware Attorney General, who died from brain cancer in 2015. The president will also visit the North Mayo Heritage Centre. Its family history research unit works with people around the world who want to trace their ancestry from Mayo. 'Welcome home' The mayor of Ballina, Mark Duffy, said people were eagerly awaiting the president's arrival. "This is a homecoming event, it's a welcome home where he has family and friends in the area," he told BBC News NI. "I hope there is respect given to that because they are true ties, they are sincere links, it's not engineered, it's not fabricated. "It's meaningful for the president, it's meaningful for the people here in town." link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65270569 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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