“I know it’s not easy” remarked President Biden on Ireland’s acceptance of nearly 80,000 refugees from Ukraine.
On Thursday, the third day of his whistle-stop tour of Ireland, US President Joe Biden met with both President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Dublin.
During the meetings, President Biden spoke to the shared values of both Ireland and America, whilst also adding his appreciation of the humanitarian work done by the Emerald Isle by welcoming in tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees.
“I think our values are the same”, said Mr. Biden during a sit-down meeting with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at Farmleigh House, prior to his special address at Leinster House.
The Democrat party leader added that “I think our concerns are the same. So I’m really looking forward to continuing to work with you”.
To date, Ireland has taken in just shy of 80,000 refugees from the conflict in Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s invasion, with Mr. Biden also saying that he had been impressed by Ireland’s commitment to the US-led efforts in Ukraine.
Speaking to Ireland’s accepting of record-numbers of refugees, the US President stated that “I know it’s not easy. I just think it feels so good to be able to have this… stronger relationship between the United States and Ireland”.
In response, the Taoiseach and Fine Gael party leader Leo Varadkar said that he was very appreciative of President Biden’s leadership on the issue of the war in Ukraine.
“I never thought in my lifetime that we’d see a war of this nature happen in Europe again. And democracy and liberty and all the things that we believe in are on retreat in large parts of the world. If it wasn’t for American leadership, and if it wasn’t for America and Europe working together, I don’t know what kind of world we’d live in”.
Having spent the first day of his tour in Northern Ireland to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, President Biden spent yesterday touring his ancestral home of County Louth.
Following today’s events in Dublin, the US President will travel to Mayo tomorrow, another county from which he can trace his ancestry.
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