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President Joe Biden has said “it feels like coming home” in his final address on his tour of Ireland as he spoke in his ancestral home of Ballina, Co Mayo.

He was introduced by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and stepped out on stage at St Muredach’s Cathedral to Shipping Up To Boston by Dropkick Murphys.

Addressing a roaring crowd, Mr Biden talked at length about his ancestors, one of whom supplied bricks to build the cathedral.

“As he laboured, I’m sure he would imagine that one day his family would worship here, that his children would be baptised here like his son Patrick was, and that future generations of his family would mark the milestones of their lives here in the sturdy walls, but I doubt he ever imagined his great-great-great grandson would return 200 years later as President of the United States of America,” he said.

Earlier he was presented with a 200-year-old brick recovered from the fireplace of his family’s ancestral home in Ballina.

His great-great-great grandfather Edward Blewitt sold 27,000 bricks to the cathedral in 1827, which helped him buy tickets to sail his family to America in 1851.

Mr Biden also broke down in tears during earlier engagements, after an emotional and unplanned meeting with a priest who gave his son the last rites.

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The chaplain who performed the sacrament for Beau Biden, now works at the Knock shrine in Co Mayo where the president paid a visit on Friday.

President Joe Biden stands with his son Hunter Biden, left, and sister Valerie Biden Owens, right, as he looks at a plaque dedicated to his late son Beau Biden while visiting Mayo Roscommon Hospice in County Mayo, Ireland, Friday, April 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Fr Frank O’Grady performed the ceremony for Beau Biden before he died of brain cancer in 2015.

He received a call requesting that he meet the president, and later told RTE that the encounter was “like a reunion”.

“We had a nice chat for about 10 minutes. He was delighted to see me and I was delighted to see him,” he said.

“He gave me a big hug, it was like a reunion. He told me he appreciated everything that was done.”

Mr Biden was given a tour of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Knock – a Catholic pilgrimage site – by the Parish priest of Knock, Fr Richard Gibbons.

Recounting the emotional reunion between the Mr Biden and Fr O’Grady, he said: “It was an extraordinary afternoon. I won’t forget it, I can tell you that it was quite something else.”

 Joe Biden receives a brick from the fireplace from the home of the Blewitt family, his relatives in Ireland
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Joe Biden receives a brick from the fireplace from the home of the Blewitt family, his relatives in Ireland

After leaving Knock, Mr Biden travelled to Castlebar where he made a private visit to the Mayo Roscommon Hospice.

The president had a longstanding pledge to revisit the facility, having turned the sod on the development in 2017.

A plaque at the entrance to the hospice is dedicated to Beau Biden’s memory.

At the site the president, along with his son Hunter and sister Valerie, met with distant cousin Laurita Blewitt.

Read more:
Joe Biden’s controversial comments on Ireland
How Irish is Joe Biden?

Mr Biden’s visit to Co Mayo ends his four-day tour of the island after he touched down at the airport in Knock on Friday afternoon.

The trip is another return to ancestral roots for the president after his trip to Co Louth on Wednesday.

The president has repeatedly spoken with passion about his Irish heritage and described addressing the country’s parliament on Thursday as “one of the great honours of my career”.

Mr Varadkar joined Mr Biden at Ireland West Airport as Air Force One began the journey back to his home state of Delaware.

The Taoiseach said he was delighted with how the trip had gone – and declared that Irish-US relations “have never been better”.

He added: “Without any doubt we have an ally in the White House, we have an administration that is looking out for Ireland and that is a really special thing to have the biggest political power in the world, the biggest economy in the world, that has a president, an administration that is interested in a small country of five million people.”

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Elon Musk says he’s created his own political party – the ‘America Party’

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Elon Musk says he's created his own political party - the 'America Party'

Elon Musk says he has created a new political party – the America Party –
after asking his followers if he should do so in an online poll.

It follows his public falling out with Republican President Donald Trump.

On Friday, the billionaire had asked his followers on X whether a new US political party should be created.

On Saturday evening he wrote on the same platform: “By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!

“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy.

“Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”

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Trump threatens to ‘put DOGE’ on Musk

The world’s richest man made the announcement just one day after President Trump signed a tax-cut and spending bill into law on Friday, which Musk had fiercely opposed.

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Musk had previously said we would form and fund a new political party to unseat lawmakers who supported the bill.

From bromance to bust-up

The Tesla boss backed Trump’s election campaign with more than a quarter of a billion dollars, later rewarded with a high profile role running the newly created department of government efficiency (DOGE).

But observers of the two men, both with huge wealth and reputations, wondered how long the bromance would last.

Elon Musk receives a golden key from U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
Pic: Reuters
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Donald Trump gave Musk a warm send-off in the Oval Office in May. Pic: Reuters

In May Musk left the role, still on good terms with Trump but criticising key parts of his legislative agenda.

After that, the attacks ramped up, with Musk slamming the sweeping tax and spending bill as a “disgusting abomination” and Trump hitting back in a barbed tit-for-tat.

Trump earlier this week threatened to cut off the billion-dollar federal subsidies that flow to Musk’s companies, and said he would even consider deporting him.

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Is this the most powerful Trump’s been?

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Is this the most powerful Trump's been?

👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈

Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ has passed and he’s due to sign it into law on Independence Day. Mark Stone and David Blevins discuss how the bill will supercharge his presidency, despite its critics.

They also chat Gaza and Ukraine, as Donald Trump meets with freed Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander and talks to Vladimir Putin.

If you’ve got a question you’d like the Trump100 team to answer, you can email it to trump100@sky.uk.

You can also watch all episodes on our YouTube channel.

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At least 13 people confirmed dead and more than 20 missing from girls camp in Texas flooding

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At least 13 people confirmed dead and more than 20 missing from girls camp in Texas flooding

13 people have been killed in the US state of Texas after heavy rain caused flash flooding, according to local media reports.

Officials have also said more than 20 are missing from a girls’ camp in Texas.

As much as 10 inches (25 centimetres) of heavy rain fell in just a few hours overnight in central Kerr County, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River.

Judge Rob Kelly, the chief elected official in the county, confirmed fatalities from the flooding and dozens of water rescues so far.

A flood watch issued on Thursday afternoon estimated isolated amounts up to seven inches (17 centimetres) of rising water.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

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