For St. Patrick’s Day, Biden hosts Ireland’s Taoiseach at the White House

As US President Joe Biden arrives on the South Lawn of the White House on March 17, 2021, Marine One flies over the fountain, which has been dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day.

(CNN )—
President Joe Biden will host Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at the White House on Friday, resuming the St. Patrick’s Day tradition for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic and for the first time the president has been in office.
The St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, which include a green-dyed White House fountain, come ahead of an expected presidential trip to Northern Ireland to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which the US helped broker a quarter-century ago to end decades of sectarian violence. The White House has not released any formal details about Biden’s visit, which he announced earlier this week.
The president referred to the visit as “a big day” during a bilateral meeting with the Taoiseach, also known as the Irish prime minister, in the Oval Office.
“Ireland and the United States have a long history of friendship,” Biden said.
The president also expressed his support for the Windsor Framework and stated that the two would discuss it during their meeting. Biden also thanked Varadkar for his support during the Ukraine conflict and on economic issues.
Biden will leave the White House later Friday afternoon to attend the Friends of Ireland Caucus St. Patrick’s Day Luncheon on Capitol Hill. And on Friday evening, Varadkar will return to the White House for a Shamrock presentation and reception, where former One Direction star Niall Horan will also perform.

Friday morning, Vice President Kamala Harris welcomed Varadkar to the Naval Observatory.
On St. Patrick’s Day, the Irish Taoiseach has a standing invitation to the White House.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Biden and former Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin met virtually for their annual St. Patrick’s Day gathering in 2021. Martin also tested positive for Covid-19 last year while attending a gala in Washington where Biden spoke the night before the White House’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities.
A presidential visit to Northern Ireland to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the landmark Good Friday Agreement has long been rumored. Barack Obama was the last US president to visit Belfast in 2013.

Biden did not mention his upcoming trip during the bilateral meeting on Friday. However, after Varadkar stated that the two leaders would be discussing travel plans, Biden responded, “I look forward to that as well.”
A trip to Ireland will be a symbolic return for Biden, who frequently refers to his Irish roots, sometimes quoting lines of poetry by William Butler Yeats or Seamus Heaney in his speeches.