‘As you can imagine, the president of America doesn’t come to Ballina very often’

There will not be a tap of work done in Ballina for the next week, pun fully intended, according to US president Joe Biden’s relative Joe ‘The Plumber’ Blewitt.

Mr Blewitt was Mr Biden’s long-lost cousin, but is now more than familiar with the Democrat politician. When the president visits Ballina next week, it will be Mr Blewitt’s fifth time meeting him.

He and other cousins met Mr Biden on St Patrick’s Day this year in the US. They first met in 2016 when Mr Biden visited Ballina as vice-president, then again at the White House in 2017 and also in Ireland later that year when he turned the sod on the Mayo-Roscommon Hospice. Mr Blewitt missed the inauguration due to Covid-19 measures.

Ballina is likely to be the highlight of the US president’s visit to Ireland. He will make a major speech on Irish-American relations from outside St Muredach’s Cathedral on Friday, April 14th.

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Mr Blewitt’s father knew the family connection going back to the 1970s, when Mr Biden was starting out on his political journey.

“To think the president of the United States is coming to Ballina is surreal. It’s fabulous, especially when this is the 300th anniversary of the founding of the town,” he said. “We have been buzzing for the last few weeks...”

Another cousin, Laurita Blewitt, one of Ireland’s best-known bloggers, said she was “super-excited” to have Mr Biden back in Ballina. “He loves Ballina and he loves Mayo. Why wouldn’t he? We are excited to see him back.”

Mr Biden’s great-great-great grandfather, Edward Blewitt, emigrated from Ballina to the US in 1850 and settled in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Connections between Scranton and Ballina predate Mr Biden’s rise to the top of US politics. The towns were twinned in 1990 in recognition of the fact that 80 per cent of Irish emigrants to Scranton originally came from north Co Mayo.

Fr Kieran Holmes, priest at St Muredach’s Cathedral in Ballina, said he had heard nothing yet about any plans for Mr Biden to visit the church. However, he had heard rumours of US secret service agents around the town scouting out locations for the presidential visit.

“As you can imagine, the president of America doesn’t come to Ballina very often,” he said. The cathedral, which contains the baptismal records of President Biden’s ancestry, has at its backdrop the River Moy. “The River Moy is dear to the hearts of people in Ballina and that’s probably why it’s the most suitable place for the event.”

Ballina municipal district chairman Mark Duffy said preparations for the visit commenced long before Mr Biden’s visit was formally announced. A deep spring-cleaning exercise has been under way and US flags are on display in the town already.

It will be Mr Biden’s third visit to the town in seven years, but his first as president.

[ Joe Biden accepts invitation to address Houses of the Oireachtas during Irish visit ]

“We now have the opportunity to put Ballina’s best foot forward while the eyes of the world are on us for a brief moment in time,” Cllr Duffy said.

The other side of Mr Biden’s Irish connections are the Finegans (sometimes Finnegans) from the Cooley peninsula in Co Louth. Mr Biden also visited there as vice-president in 2016.

The Carlingford Pipe Band played for him then, and is hoping to do so again this month. Drummer Liam Fretwell said the last visit left the place “ecstatic” as Mr Biden “brought so much confidence into the area”.

The band has composed a special piece of music to mark the occasion, with the intention very much to play it for him if they get the opportunity.

Louth County Council chairman Cllr Conor Keelan said he has received no notice of Mr Biden’s itinerary, but is looking forward to meeting him on his visit to the area.