US President Joe Biden's trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland begins this evening.
President Biden is due to touch down in Belfast marking the start of a four day visit.
Before a much longer stay in the Republic of Ireland this week Joe Biden will touch down in Northern Ireland this evening.
The US President will visit Belfast to mark 25 years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, a peace deal America played no small part in.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to greet the US President off the steps of Air Force One.
His one big public engagement in Northern Ireland will be at Ulster University on Wednesday when President Biden will give a speech.
Immediately after that he's due to fly to Dublin and is expected to visit Co Louth on Wednesday evening where he may do a walkabout in Dundalk.
A massive security operation is underway here in Northern Ireland where the PSNI was already on high alert amid the threat of dissident activity around the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
On Friday President Biden will travel to Co Mayo for the culmination of the trip.
According to today's Irish Examiner, he will tour the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Knock and visit the North Mayo Heritage and Genealogical Centre’s family history research unit.
Midwest News understands these events will be private events while President Biden's address at St Muredach's Cathedral in Ballina will be a public event.
Spokesperson for the White House John Kirby, says the president’s great-great-great grandfather Edward Blewitt sold 27,000 bricks to the cathedral in 1827.
Those bricks were used to construct and support the great cathedral and help Edward afford to buy tickets for himself and for his family to sail to America decades later in 1851.
He says the president is very much looking forward to that trip and to celebrating the deep historic ties that our two countries and our two people continue to share.
