Explained: The political and cultural significance of Joe Biden’s visit to Ireland

Joe Biden is in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland for the next four days. That’s the way experts are describing United States president Joe Biden’s visit to Northern Ireland and then onto Ireland. Biden’s visit to Ireland comes 60 years after the last Irish Catholic president — John F Kennedy — visited his ancestral homeland, telling his aides later that it was the “best four days of my life.” As he set out from the United States, Biden said his goal on the trip was to “make sure the Irish accords and the Windsor agreement stay in place, to keep the peace.” “That’s the main thing,” he said, referring to agreements that helped end decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. As Brendan O’Leary, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, tells NPR: “I think there’s no doubt that Joe Biden is the most Irish of Irish American presidents.” As part of his Ireland visit, Biden will tour County Mayo and County Louth — from where his family hails. John Finucane, a member of the British Parliament from Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party, told CNN that Biden’s visit to Northern Ireland would be a “huge help” toward resolving some of the lingering differences.