In the original Irish town of Joe Biden, distant relatives and well-wishers treated a good hangover on Sunday after a night spent toasting the success of the new president-elect – and claimed credit for “saving the world“.
“It was like watching a thriller on Netflix or something, it just kept on going and then suddenly yesterday it hit us out of the blue,” Biden’s third cousin told AFP. , Laurita Blewitt.
“We are absolutely delighted and just can’t put it into words,” said the 37-year-old.
Biden’s legacy has been described by experts as “around five-eighths of Ireland” and his roots run deep in Ballina – a town of 10,000 on the west coast of Ireland.
His great-great-great-grandfather Edward Blewitt left for New York in 1851, part of the diaspora fleeing the Irish misery and famines of the time, leaving sprawling family ties.
– In the footsteps of JFK –
A distance of thousands of miles (kilometers) between Ballina and the White House has not diminished Biden’s ties to Ireland.
Prime Minister Micheal Martin was one of the very first world leaders to congratulate Biden, ignoring President Donald Trump’s baseless allegations of electoral malpractice.
“Joe Biden is the most Irish president since John F. Kennedy,” he told state broadcaster RTE on Saturday.
He hailed the opportunity to “reset” relations between the United States and the European Union at a time when Britain exits the EU, much to Biden’s dismay.
As the election neared, publican Padraig “Smiler” Mitchell was among the crowd of local artists to paint an imposing pop-art portrait of the city’s soon to be 46th president, whom Biden has already visited twice.
“I think Ballina saved the world last night because without Ballina there would be no Biden,” he said as locals gathered in the shadows of his work Sunday morning.
Some newspapers grabbed the historical headlines while others posed for photos.
On Main Street, a man dragged himself around sporting an oversized Biden badge after a car passed by tangled in red, white and blue garlands.
“Today we’re just waiting for Donald to move on, get out of there,” added Mitchell – a registered US voter who voted for Biden in the mail.
– “ Hope and history rhyme ” –
Biden has previously said that when he dies, “Northeastern Pennsylvania will be written in my heart.”
“But Ireland will be written in my soul.”
The feeling is mutual for the inhabitants of Ballina.
Despite a coronavirus lockdown in Ireland, they have decorated the city with his name and image – declaring him “Ballina’s best president, Biden”.
Pubs and closed shops were covered with “Biden / Harris” signs honoring Democratic History Vice President Kamala Harris.
Locals were treated to a procession before gathering near the mural to watch the results appear on a screen projected Tuesday night.
Like America and the rest of the world, they faced a tantalizing expectation that U.S. networks are calling the result, but still started celebrating earlier on Saturday.
“We said, ‘Let’s call ahead to CNN,’” said a beaming Mitchell.
Champagne corks were popped before the mural at a socially distant gathering, before locals returned home to applaud in private.
“If Covid wasn’t here we would have had a good party,” Mitchell said.
At home, those watching RTE’s main evening newscast recalled the intimacy between Biden and Ireland.
The program ended with a recording of the president-elect reading the words of Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney: “Once in a lifetime / The long awaited tidal wave / Justice can rise / And hope and history rhyme. “
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
