President Biden will host Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar at the White House on Friday to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, the White House announced Tuesday.
The two leaders will “reaffirm the close and historic partnership” between Ireland and the United States, as well as discuss the war in Ukraine and other global issues, White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said.
Mr Biden, whose Irish ancestry dates back to the Great Famine of the 1840s, has made it a tradition to host the Irish prime minister on St Patrick’s Day.
In his speeches, Mr. Biden makes frequent references to his Irish roots, including occasional quotations from the country’s famous poets.
The announcement comes a day after Mr Biden said he planned to travel to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. Mr Biden said he intended to go after receiving an official invitation from British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Mr. Sunak and Mr. Biden discussed the plan during a meeting in San Diego on Monday.
The Good Friday Agreement was signed on 10 April 1998, ending decades of conflict in Northern Ireland.