Statement from Taoiseach Simon Harris on the announcement by US President Joe Biden

On behalf of the people and Government of Ireland. I, as Taoiseach, would like to thank you Mr President for your global leadership and your friendship as you make your announcement that you will not stand in the 2024 US Presidential election.

The world has changed since President Biden’s victory in 2020 and we have had to face extraordinary challenges from a global pandemic to the return of war to the continent of Europe with the horrific full scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia which has deliberately targeted and killed innocent civilians.

President Biden has been a voice for reason, effective multilateralism and shared solutions.

He and the United States recognised early on that Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine was not merely an illegal invasion of a neighbour by a permanent member of the UN Security Council, but an attack on international law and democratic freedom. As President Biden has himself said many times, Russia will not stop with Ukraine.

When we spoke on the phone last month, President Biden and I discussed his plans for a ceasefire in Israel’s war in Gaza. This plan remains the only way on the table to stop the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, release hostages and allow aid to flow freely. I am glad the President will continue his focus on this in the weeks and months ahead.

Joe Biden, in all the offices he has held, has always been an unwavering voice and passionate worker for peace on the island of Ireland and our country owes him a great debt for this.

On a personal level, President Biden is a proud American with an Irish soul. When he arrived into Belfast, Louth and Mayo last year he himself said it was like coming home.

The outpouring of love and support from the public, even in the pouring Irish rain, from Carlingford to Ballina was testament to how highly the President is held in his ancestral home.

In his final speech in Ireland President Biden said his parents had raised him and his siblings with a fierce pride in their Irish ancestry — a pride that spoke to both the history that binds us, but more importantly, the values that unite us.

He relayed the words of his parents that “everyone is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect.”

Anyone who knows or has watched Joe Biden knows that these are more than words to him but the way he has always conducted himself in public and private life.

Mr President, Ireland will protect the piece of your son Beau’s legacy that you left in County Mayo at Mayo Hospice.

I know your visit in 2023 will not be your last. I wish you, Mrs Biden and your family every success and I look forward to working with you for the remainder of your Presidency.

ENDS