I had the pleasure of greeting Vice-President Biden on his arrival at Dublin Airport last week and of welcoming the Vice-President and his family to Ireland. In our brief discussion, Vice-President Biden and I spoke about his close ancestral ties and deep affinity to Ireland and the Vice-President emphasised that he and his family had been greatly looking forward to the visit, which he had long been planning.
While on this occasion I did not hold a formal bilateral meeting with Vice-President Biden or other representatives of the United States of America, I engaged with both the Vice-President and President Obama during my visit to Washington DC for the St Patrick’s Day celebrations in March. On that occasion the Taoiseach and I had the opportunity to raise a number of issues of importance to Ireland including economic and political links and immigration reform.