World of Politics with Harry McGee

Three US presidents are featured in the news cycle this week, one of them for very different reasons. The first is current President Joe Biden, who will visit Ireland next week and visit Dublin and his various ancestral homes in Ballina, Co Mayo and the Cooley Peninsula in Co Louth.

Of course, his strongest family connections might be with Oranmore and Maree, through John Hanniffy from Ballinacourty who emigrated to the US during the Famine. But the Galway connections were not publicised early enough, letting Mayo and Louth steal their thunder.

The other reason Biden is coming is to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement which falls on April 10.

And, of course, the US president who was an architect of the Agreement was Bill Clinton, who despite retiring almost a quarter of a century ago, is still younger than Biden.

Clinton was presented with yet another award over the weekend in New York (this one by American-based Friends of Sinn Féin). Getting the Agreement over the line and bringing peace to Northern Ireland after almost three decades of conflict was a huge achievement. This is one of Clinton’s greatest legacies.

It’s the same for former British prime minister Tony Blair, and, of course, it is Bertie Ahern’s greatest moment as a politician.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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