Here’s the schedule for Day Three of President Biden’s Irish visit:

• Arrives in Knock airport around lunchtime
• Attends the Sanctuary of our Lady of Knock with private prayer at the Apparition Chapel
• Visits at the Mayo-Roscommon Hospice in Castlebar, scheduled for 3.30pm
• Stops at the North Mayo Heritage and Genealogical Centre in Crossmolina.
• Delivers a speech outside Saint Muredach’s Cathedral, Ballina, scheduled for 9:15pm
• Flies back to Dublin before departing Ireland in the early hours.
• Details of the itinerary in full here

Read more of our coverage on President Joe Biden’s visit here:

• Miriam Lord: Biden butters up TDs and Senators and delivers extra cheese
• Joe Biden’s visit to Ireland may not result in desired ‘bounce’ for US president
• Pat Leahy: Three key messages emerge from third day of Biden’s visit
• ‘Tá mé sa bhaile’: Biden tells Houses of Oireachtas he is ‘at home’
• Day two of the visit as it happened

Joe Biden also told the estimated crowd of 27,000 that the Irish people “are the only people who are nostalgic about the future. He added that Irish people “always believe in a better tomorrow, because no matter what we always carry hope in our hearts. Our strength is something that overcomes everyday hardships, and above all our courage allows us to march forward in faith.”

So, that’s that. The US president is scheduled to leave for the US in the coming hours. We’ll leave it there so, it the words of the late great Bill O’Herlihy. Bye then.

Another snippet from the speech.

“My friends, people of Mayo, this is a moment to recommit our hearts, our minds and souls to the march of progress. To lay the foundations brick by brick for a better future for our kids and grandkids”

“One of greater liberty, opportunity and dignity, just like our ancestors did for us.

“I’ve never been more optimistic and I’ve been doing this a long time, about what we can achieve if we stick together and stick to our values.”

“This is a time of enormous possibilities

“United by history, heritage and hope, and made most of all by courage, nothing is beyond our reach”

And that is that. His speech has ended. We’ll have some more details of it shortly bur the final words are what will most likely resonate with many people from the west of Ireland. “Mayo for Sam. Mayo for Sam” he shouted to deafening roars.

While President Biden continues to speak, let’s look back at what the Taoiseach said in his introduction. He said Mr Biden was the most Irish of all US presidents. “Here outside St Muredach’s Cathedral we must rededicate ourselves to playing our part in the fight between darkness and light, despair and hope, injustice and dignity. We pray for the wisdom to guide us, the words to speak up for those without a voice, the shield to protect our planet, and the strength to do what is right always. Mr President, your life story reminds us that although tragedy may shape us, it never solely defines us. Love of country, of family, and of each other moves us forward, providing new hope and inspiring others along the way. President Biden, you are the most Irish of all American presidents, not because of what is written on your family tree, but because of what is enshrined in your soul. We did not need to gather here today in our tens of thousands to say: ‘Welcome back to Ireland’. In your heart, you never left.”

“Being here feels like coming home,” he says before going into the background of his family stretching back to pre-Famine times.

Edward Blewitt (the President’s great-great-great grandfather) sold 27,000 bricks to St. Muredach’s Cathedral in 1828. The bricks were used to construct the 12 pillars which support the knave of the great cathedral. He was paid £21 and 12 shillings for 27,000 bricks - equivalent to about £20,000/ $25,000. Patrick Blewitt (the President’s great-great-grandfather) was baptized at the cathedral on April 24th, 1832, and several of Edward Blewitt’s daughters were baptized at the cathedral.

Live stream of Biden’s speech.

“We met out of the blue a former military chaplin Fr Frank O’Grady who gave my son last rites. It was incredible to see and it seemed like a sign....” The emotional scenes at Knock are referenced early in Biden’s speech.

This is your five minute warning..... or at least that is what the word is on the streets of Ballina. The music has stopped and the stage is - literally - set for Joe Biden’s farewell address.

In the meantime there is a pretty wild hooley happening with the lads from the Chieftains leading the dance.

Marine One - also know as the US president’s helicopter - has been spotted flying into Ballina which means Joe Biden’s final speech, which was due to begin at 9:15pm, must be imminent.

A double rainbow? What are the odds? All that was missing was the pot o’ gold. Begorrah.

Joe Biden spent more than an hour learning more about his Blewitt family roots at North Mayo Heritage and Genealogical Centre.

The US president was accompanied to the centre, which has access to more than 1.2 million records, by former Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who hails from Co Mayo, and his wife Fionnuala.

In the heritage centre, Mr Biden met historian Sinead McCoole, who showed him three artefacts from the Jackie Clarke Museum in Ballina, including the cockade which Theobald Wolfe Tone wore on his hat at the time of his capture by the British in 1798.

He also spoke to a geological expert as well as a local historian and author about the history of North Mayo, the Irish-American connections, and the background of the Blewitt family.

The president concluded the public part of his visit to the Enniscoe Estate by viewing a mural depicting him delivering a public speech in Ballina.

The former president of Ireland Mary Robinson read a poem by Eavan Boland in honour of President Joe Biden.

She was speaking from the stage in Ballina where Mr Biden is to give a speech on the final day of his four-day trip to the island of Ireland shortly.

“I’m so pleased that President Biden has the same love for Ballina that I do, you have two presidents who love Ballina now, what else can you ask for?” she said, addressing the crowd.

Ms Robinson said the poem, titled The Emigrant Irish, was about how Irish migrants have not always been appreciated in the way they are now.

“The poem was important, because Eavan felt we should be caring more for those who had to leave the country and find their way and struggle, and love their country from afar, but not feel that they were cherished and loved, as I’m glad to say they are now,” she said.

Stage set for Biden farewell

Thousands of people have gathered in Ballina this evening ahead of the final address by US President Joe Biden at the conclusion of his four-day visit to Ireland.

The Mayo town was bathed in bright spring sunshine for much of the day and as the Coronas played the Cranberries Linger on a stage in front of Sr Muredach’s Cathedral where the president is due to say his farewells, an almost perfect rainbow appeared as if on cue from the gods.

Throughout the day the atmosphere in the town has been festive with both sides of the river Moy lined with people who were entertained by the Academic and the Chieftains as well as the Coronas.

President Biden was described as having displayed the raw humanity of “any father who had lost his son” when he became visibly moved as he viewed a plaque at the entrance to Mayo Hospice which commemorates his late son Beau who passed away at the age of 46 in 2015.

Mr Biden had turned the sod at the site in Castlebar in 2017.

The chief executive of the hospice Martina Jennings said that viewing the plaque was also a special moment for the surviving son of the President Hunter Biden and his aunt Valerie Biden Owens who were also in attendance at the private visit.

Ms Jennings said that President Biden had the demeanour of any father who had endured the passing of a much loved child when he read the name of his late son on the plaque.

“You couldn’t be anything but touched (by his reaction). It was very emotional for all of us. In 2017 we promised him (President Biden )a special building for everybody that needed hospice services.”

Not just another brick in the wall

New pool report from the presidential visit.....Oh and don’t speed read it like I did or you too might think it says: “POTUS entered garden centre....”

It doesn’t say that.

“POTUS entered a garden at the centre* at 6:44 PM. He was followed by Hunter Biden and Valerie Biden Owens.

Some musicians, including a harpist and a fiddle player, were playing Irish music nearby.

POTUS spoke with Ernie Caffrey and his daughter Miriam. Their family owns a store that is located at the cite of the former Blewitt family home in Ballina. He presented POTUS with a brick from the house enclosed in a case.

“It’s a 200 year old brick” said POTUS as he read an inscription on the case. He added: “That’s incredible.”

POTUS then walked through an archway in a stone wall and along a path lined with trees. He continued to a driveway where a group of people were assembled by a sign with a painting of POTUS at a lectern in front of a cathedral. “President Ballina, Co. Mayo Ireland” it read.

POTUS shook hands with the group and looked at the painting as it started to rain. “Oh I was in your bar,” he said to one man.”

* The centre referred to is the North Mayo Heritage and Genealogical Centre where the President was briefed in more detail on his Mayo roots.

The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is in Ballina ahead of Joe Biden’s farewell speech later this evening. Speaking to RTE News to a soundtrack of the Academic who are playing to thousands of people who have gathered to hear what Mr Biden has say, he hailed what he said was a very successful visit by a US president.

He said there were no difficult conversations about Ireland’s tax status and stressed that Ireland is not a tax haven - despite what some people might say. “We’re staying within[international] rules. We’ve closed a lot of loopholes... and we’re bringing in this new minimum rate in January.”

He pointed out that the economic relationship between America and Ireland goes both ways these days. “We’re one of the top 10 investors now in America, about 100,000 Americans are employed by Irish companies in 50 states. So we want to make sure that’s a level playing field. But the rules are fair.”

He also said that the issue of the undocumented Irish in the US was not discussed on this visit although it was on the agenda during Mr Varadkar’s visit to Washington last month.

He said Mr Biden “does favour immigration reform, the difficulty that he as he doesn’t have a majority in Congress, the possibility of a carve out for Ireland, unfortunately, just isn’t very likely because people from other parts of the world, Mexico, for example or South America would find that unfair. So it’s an issue we’re still very much working on, would still be encouraging America to have the scheme to regularize the people just like we’ve done here in Ireland.

He said the politics of the US “makes it very difficult, but we’re not giving up... I’m conscious that there are a lot of people here in the west of Ireland who have relatives that are undocumented in America.”

Ooh ah... etc.

Ballina is standing tall on the world stage tonight.

RTE News spoke to Fr Frank O’Grady, the priest who gave Joe Biden’s son the last rites. He described the encounter as “a real reunion”.

“i was very surprised, I was behind that wall over there, by the hotel, and Fr Richard [Gibbons] sent a message over to his secretary to look me up. I didn’t have my phone on me, I normally bring it, I just didn’t bring it today, that the President wanted to see me, and I was very surprised,” Fr O’Grady said.

“I didn’t anticipate it. I know it was a secret visit, only a very select number of people were allowed to see him, but I came over anyhow, and I met him inside the Apparition Chapel, myself and his son Hunter, and also his sister, and we’d a nice chat for about 10 minutes. He was delighted to see me and I was delighted to see him. He gave me a big hug, Hunter gave me a big hug, it was like a reunion.

“He was emotional today, and I told him, you know, that he was a person of great faith, and he said his faith sustains him. His faith sustained him in the past at that difficult time, and it still does. I said to him like he has challenges coming up, and he kind of said he has, and to remember him, and if I’m ever in Washington to visit the Oval Office and see him.”

Harry McGee is with the presidential entourage and has an update.

The President is travelling from Castlebar to the North Mayo Heritage Centre near Crossmolina by helicopter where will learn more about the genealogy of his family and his North Mayo roots. “The weather is wonderful, a beautiful Spring day in a mature estate with a three-storey Georgian mansion. This will be the penultimate stop of his tour of Mayo ahead of his speech in Ballina tonight.”

As a man of Mayo extraction born in the USA Joe Biden may or not be familiar with the - um - difficulties the county of his ancestors has had bringing home a very different Uncle Sam.

But Sam Maguire wasn’t far from the minds of some who had gathered to greet the US president. “We have had the Pope landing at Knock, we now have the US president landing at Knock and please God we will have Sam Maguire landing at Knock this year,” said Fine Gael TD Michael Ring.

Nobody knows more about Mayo’s eternal quest for Sam Maguire as much as his fellow Fine Gael TD Alan Dillon who played in six All-Ireland finals and lost them all.

“I had a quiet word with the president when he says his prayers in Knock that we will lift Sam Maguire in 2023. He gave me a smile,” he said. “He understands Mayo and the passion for sport.”

Our man on the ground - one of them - Ronan McGreevy has the story.

President tearful after chance meeting with priest who gave son last rites

President Biden grew emotional after a surprise meeting in Knock Shrine with the priest who gave his son Beau the last rites shortly before he passed away in 2015.

Speaking to the BBC, Fr Richard Gibbons, said Fr Frank O’Grady, the chaplain who was by Mr Biden’s son’s side as he passed away had moved to Knock to work in the Shrine.

“It just so happened, and this was kind of spontaneous, it just so happened that we have, working at the shrine here, the chaplain who gives the last rites of the last anointing to his son in the United States,” Fr Gibbons said.

“Just extraordinary, and I didn’t even know that, I didn’t know that until the president arrived. He laughed, he cried, it just kind of hit the man, you could just (see) how deeply it all felt and meant to him.”

The death of his son had a profound impact on President Biden as you might expect and when he recalls Beau’s life and death, he frequently becomes emotional.

Speaking to the joint houses of the Oireachtas yesterday, Mr Biden went so far as to say it should have been his son who was delivering the speech as US President.

“You know I hadn’t planned on running for President again in 2020. My son Beau, who had just died of stage four glioblastoma after coming back from Iraq after a year. He was the Attorney General of Delaware. As a matter of fact he should be the one standing here giving this speech to you,” he said.

Fresh update from the pool reporters travelling with President Biden.

The motorcade arrived at Mayo Roscommon Hospice at 4:31pm There were more people out at points along the way, waving as POTUS went by and there was a huge crowd assembled around the entrance.

“POTUS exited his car at 4:34 PM and greeted several people outside the centre including distant cousin Laurita Blewitt. They spoke for several minutes and Hunter Biden and Valerie Owens Biden joined. Pool could not hear what was said.”

Mr Biden then walked with the the group to look at the plaque before going inside.

By way of background, the President broke ground at the construction of the hospice in 2017 and sent a video greeting to honor the occasion when it opened in November 2021. A plaque at the entrance to the hospice is dedicated to Beau Biden’s memory.

The President will meet briefly with the Chief Executive of the Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation Martina Jennings, Blewitt relatives, and hospice board members and employees. According to the White House, Mr Niden stays in close touch with the Blewitt family - who have also attended the White House Saint Patrick’s Day receptions in 2022 and 2023.

And hello from Conor Pope. Thanks to my colleagues Jennifer and Simon - and to all the others who have been updating the Live Blog over recent days. We’re on the home stretch now!

Among those traveling with the President aboard Air Force One to Ireland West Airport Knock were Claire D. Cronin, the Ambassador of the United States to Ireland. There was also Bruce Reed, Assistant to the President & Deputy Chief of Staff, Annie Tomasini, Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the President & Director of Oval Office Operations, Mike Donilon, Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the President, Jon Finer, Assistant to the President & Principal Deputy National Security Advisor, Karine Jean-Pierre, Assistant to the President & Press Secretary and Ben LaBolt, Assistant to the President & Director of Communications

If you are fan of the West Wing, you will know that translates as Josh Lyman, Toby Ziegler, Sam Seaborne and CJ Craig. That will give you an idea of just how important this trip has been for the White House.

This is Simon Carswell handing over to my colleague Conor Pope who will bring you coverage of all the remaining events from President Biden’s visit to Co Mayo, including the live reporting of his speech at St Muredach’s Cathedral in Ballina later tonight.

Girl who almost hit Joe Biden with a sliotar: ‘It was such a bad shot’

‘They’re calling her Lee Hurley Oswald,’ says father of 11-year-old camogie player Lucy Bourke

US president Joe Biden’s security teams may have made exhaustive advance searches of manholes and rooftops and buildings where he was going to be travelling in Ireland, but they didn’t factor in a possible concussion to the presidential cranium from a belt of a sliotar, writes Rosita Boland.

On Thursday afternoon, during the president’s visit to Farmleigh in Dublin with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Lucy Bourke (11) hit a ball with her camogie stick that passed uncomfortably close to Biden’s person. All manner of cameras, including television ones, captured the sequence of events, which swiftly did the rounds on social media.

“They’re calling her Lee Hurley Oswald,” Willie Bourke, Lucy’s father, revealed over the phone on Friday, in reference to Lee Harvey Oswald, who is believed to have shot then US president John F Kennedy in Dallas in 1963.

Read Rosita’s full report on Biden’s close call here.

Ahead of his visit to Ballina later, the White House has posted this video on Mayo, Louth and President Biden’s connections with the two counties...

‘His hatred of the UK has hardly been concealed’: how British press has covered Biden’s visit

A mixture of scorn and suspicion has marked the reaction in some quarters of the British media to US president Joe Biden’s visit to Ireland, reports Ronan McGreevy.

A cartoon in The Times by Peter Brookes harked back to the most dated Irish stereotypes. It is shows President Joe Biden dressed as a leprechaun dancing an Irish jig with a pint of Guinness in his hands.

This will be news to the avowedly teetotal American president who, for once when a famous visitor comes to Ireland, did not pose with a pint of Guinness in his hands. The Irish journalist Philip Nolan tweeted at Brookes: “Punch called. They want you back in 1867.”

Ronan’s full report is here.

Biden visits the Apparition Chapel at Knock Shrine

In Knock, President Biden inspected the Apparition chapel and touched the bricks of the original gable wall of the church where the Virgin Mary appeared in 1879. He was accompanied by Fr Richard Gibbons, the parish priest and rector of the Knock Shrine. In visiting the site, Mr Biden joins two former popes, Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis who visited in 1979 and 2018 respectively, and Mother Teresa, who visited in 1993. In 2021 Pope Francis recognised the pilgrimage site as an International Marian and Eucharistic Shrine. On the visit, Mr Biden was accompanied by his son Hunter and his sister, Valerie Biden Owens.

Biden at the Knock shrine

The latest “travel pool report” from the White House press corps reports on President Biden’s drive to Knock:

“Crowds of people were gathered along the road to watch the motorcade go by, some waving Irish and American flags. There was a huge gathering near the entrance. ‘Welcome Home Joe,” read one sign.”

The President entered the Knock Basilica at 2:55pm, the report says. The church was described as “a large mosaic depicting the apparition.” He spoke to officials and then walked through the Basilica with Fr Richard Gibbons, parish priest and rector of The Sanctuary of Our Lady Knock who was pointing out details, including the Stations of the Cross. “The two looked up at the mosaic. At one point they laughed together,” writes the White House pool reporter Catherine Lucey of The Wall Street Journal.

Biden’s Mayo ancestry

The White House has released some biographical detail on President Biden’s ancestors from Co Mayo via the US press reporting pool. His great-great-grandparents were Patrick Blewitt and Catherine Scanlon. Patrick was born on April 5th, 1832 in Ballina. He was educated in Ireland and was “well versed in civil engineering and surveying.” In 1857 he married Catherine, who was born around 1840 in Ireland. Catherine was the daughter of Anthony and Honora Scanlon who was stationed in Killala Bay, Co Mayo.

Mr Biden’s great-great-great-grandparent Edward Blewitt was born around 1803 in Ireland and lived in Mayo. By 1848 he served as the head overseer in the Ballina Poor Law Union. The Ballina Dispensary is the only part of the workhouse complex that is still standing. Edward and his wife Mary Mulderg emigrated to the United States on the Excelsior in January 1851 when they landed in New York. Upon his arrival in Pennsylvania, he assisted in the planning and layout of the city of Scranton, the sister city to Ballina.

Today, the US president will meet distant relatives who live in Ballina, including his third cousin Brendan Blewitt, and his children Joe and Laurita, who is married to GAA commentator Joe Brolly.

My colleague Ronan McGreevy has written this fascinating feature on Biden’s Irish ancestry.

Among those who greeted President Biden at Knock airport were Minister for the Environment and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, Sinn Féin TD Rose Conway Walsh, Mayo County Council cathaoirleach Seamus Weir and Arthur French, chairman of Ireland West Airport Knock.

Biden arrives at Knock Shrine

President Biden is being shown around the Basilica at the Sanctuary of Our Lady Knock by Fr Richard Gibbons, the parish priest at Knock. Our colleague Patsy McGarry, Religious Affairs Correspondent, has written this feature on how Biden says his Catholicism is a “private matter” but runs to the core of his political ideology. More here.

From our colleague at RTE, Joe Mag Raollaigh...

Can Biden end the Mayo curse?

President Biden was asked by ex-Mayo footballer and now Fine Gael TD Alan Dillon to “say a little prayer” at Knock Shrine that Mayo will bring home Sam Maguire in 2023. More on the famous curse here.

- from Ronan McGreevy at Knock airport

Nice silhouetted photo (taken by Jim Watson of the AFP wire service) of US President Joe Biden against the Co Mayo sky after his arrival at Ireland West airport ahead of the first stop of his final day in Ireland. Mr Biden, the second Catholic to be elected US president, is on his way to the Knock Shrine.

Inside Politics podcast: Biden in Ireland

The latest Inside Politics podcast from The Irish Times has just dropped looking at whether President Biden got the balance right on his visit to Ireland and the surprising comments he made about the end of his political career in his Houses of the Oireachtas. Political Editor Pat Leahy speaks to Martin Wall, Washington Correspondent, and me about the eighth Irish visit by a sitting US president. Click here to listen.

This is Simon Carswell taking over from Jennifer Cosgrove on the live blog. I will be following the US president’s stops around Co Mayo with our colleague Conor Pope taking over later.

Stay tuned for President Biden’s arrival at the Knock Shrine.

US president Joe Biden has arrived in the west of Ireland.

From our reporter Ronan McGreevy on the ground at the airport in Knock...

Air Force One touched down at Ireland West Airport just before 2.15pm, nearly an hour behind schedule.

He will travel by motorcade to Knock Shrine where he will pay a short private visit.

Among those greeting him at Ireland West Airport are local minister Dara Calleary, TD Michael Ring and the Irish ambassador to the US Geraldine Byrne Nason.

Mr Biden and his team were treated to a banquet in Dublin Castle last night. On the menu were Lambay Island crab cakes, which were ready to cook and the saddles of Wexford lamb had been prepped for the oven, writes Marie-Claire Digby

Senator Rebecca Moynihan was in Leinster House for Mr Biden’s address in the Dáil on Thursday accompanied by a very special guest.

The plan was for her eight-week-old baby Margot to remain outside the chamber, being minded by a colleague.

However, that colleague got delayed elsewhere and was unable to come in, and as a result, Senator Moynihan brought her baby into the Dáil chamber for the speech.

Baby Margot became an unexpected guest of honour, with Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghail citing her among the list of guests. This was met with a large applause in the chamber.

- Ellen O’Donoghue

Joe Biden is currently boarding his flight to Ireland West - or Knock - airport to begin the day’s engagements.

More on the stone he’s due to receive during his visit to the Apparition Chapel, which parish priest Fr Richard Gibbons told Shauna Bowers is “very rare”.

“After the apparition, people over successive years came to pick up stones and mortar, and the wall came into disrepair; it was at risk. The wall had to be reinforced and we kept a number of the stones in storage,” Fr Gibbons told The Irish Times.

“We wanted to give him something from the actual wall itself. We thought this was appropriate. It’s quite a gift, but it is quite a visit. It’s not very large, maybe about 2.5cm in diameter. We think it would mean a lot to him.”

As people in Ireland will have seen this week, when the president of the United States goes anywhere, it is a big deal, writes Martin Wall.

Weeks or months of planning and preparations take place for overseas trips. Everything is organised in advance; where he will go, who he will meet, what he will say. Besides from the security logistics, there is also the media to consider.

Almost since the beginning of his presidency in January 2021, those covering the White House have voiced concerns about the limited opportunities provided to question Biden in formal settings.

In advance of the visit to Ireland, the issue once again raised its head.

A nation portraying itself as historically oppressed yet forward-thinking and open for business...

—   Richard Kemp, Daily Telegraph

A mixture of scorn and suspicion has marked the reaction in some quarters of the British media to US president Joe Biden’s visit to Ireland, writes Ronan Mc Greevy.

The coverage includes a cartoon in The Times by Peter Brookes which harks back to the most dated Irish stereotypes. It shows Mr Biden dressed as a leprechaun dancing an Irish jig with a pint of Guinness in his hands.

Mr Biden’s first engagement of the day is at the Sanctuary of our Lady of Knock. He will visit the Apparition Chapel where he will engage in private prayer. Mr Biden will be presented with a stone from the gable wall of the parish church at the shrine. It is said that when a light shined on the wall in 1879, a heavenly apparition occurred when Our Lady, St Joseph and St John the Evangelist appeared for two hours.

Our Religious Affairs Correspondent, Patsy McGarry, wrote about the holy site in 2019: An apparition or a magic lantern: What happened at Knock 140 years ago?

Preparations are under way at Ballina’s parish church, St Muredach’s Cathedral, for Mr Biden speech later

An Post in Ballina welcomes Mr Biden.

Biden may have been born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, have spent a half-century in Washington and own two houses in Delaware, but this week, Ireland sounded like his true native land

—  Matt Viser, the Washington Post

Our reporter, Nathan Johns, takes a look at how the US press is covering their president’s visit to Ireland.

“It was a notable message for the president of the United States,” says Viser, “Whose job description includes repeatedly extolling it as the greatest country in the world, as he wondered aloud at times why his ancestors ever left.”

US president Joe Biden’s Irish visit appears to have sparked a surge in transatlantic holiday bookings, according to one company.

Mr Biden’s visit has coincided with a surge in bookings from US visitors this year, with reservations up 93 per cent so far in 2023, and it maintains they are spending even more than usual.

Read more of Barry O’Halloran’s tourism report.

Mr Biden begins his journey west.

It’s a beautiful day in Mayo

Mayo is gearing up for Mr Biden’s visit today.

From the United States perspective, the peace process is one of the most successful interventions from an American foreign policy perspective

—  Tánaiste Micheál Martin

Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said “the peace process is one of the most successful interventions from an American foreign policy perspective in terms of assisting and being, you know, indispensable in terms of bringing peace to the island of Ireland.

“And that is something that sometimes we underestimate the degree to which others outside of Ireland really highlight the significance of the Irish peace process in terms of how you resolve conflict globally and how you can successfully bring values and principles to bear on a situation of conflict and to get a result like we have in Northern Ireland, although not complete, but certainly has transformed the situation for generations of young people on the island of Ireland.”

Great shot of Mr Biden in the Dáil by Kenny Holston on the front of today’s Irish Times.

Mr Biden it was one of the greatest honours of his career to speak before the Dáil on Thursday night.

If you missed what happened on Mr Biden’s third day in Ireland, you can catch up with all the key moments from Pat Leahy.

The president managed to say “malarkey” in between waxing lyrical about Irish poets and Irishness in an address which hit all the expected marks, and more.

Miriam Lord recaps the action from yesterday, a day of Mr Biden buttering up Irish dignitaries and being feted in return as a beloved son of Erin.

Good morning and welcome to The Irish Times coverage of the final day of US president Joe Biden’s visit to Ireland. Mayo roots will feature strongly ahead of the anticipated public speech in Ballina which will form the climax of the trip.

Mr Biden is expected to arrive at Ireland West - or Knock - Airport at 1.15pm before attending the shrine for private prayer.

From there, he will travel to Mayo Roscommon Hospice in Castlebar at 3.30pm to honour the memory of his son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015. The third stop will be at the North Mayo Heritage and Genealogical Centre in Crossmolina.

Finally, on Friday night, after musical entertainment from The Chieftains among others, the US president will speak in Ballina after 9pm, outside St Muredach’s Cathedral.

Then it’s back to Knock Airport, briefly stopping at Dublin Airport before returning to the US. Read the itinerary in more detail from Nathan Johns here.