Ballina was founded in 1723 as a garrison town and port on the river Moy by Lord Tyrawley. To date, the most famous episode in its history was the taking of the town on August 26th, 1798, by the French forces of Gen Jean Humbert who had just landed in Killala.
Its greatest day is likely to come next Friday when Ballina’s exiled son US president Joe Biden delivers his big speech in Ireland from a platform before St Muredach’s Cathedral.
On Thursday less than 24 hours after the announcement, the not-so-secret US secret service was already in evidence around the cathedral. They could hardly be missed with their neatly pressed suits and tight haircuts. Also arriving on Thursday were the crash barriers which will be put in place for the expected crowds.
The space in front of the cathedral is narrow but has hosted many public events before, although none on this scale. It will be the most dramatic of backgrounds for any speech by a US president in Ireland. The crowds will be packed into the quays on either side of the river between the two bridges in the town. There is talk of a capacity of 20,000 for his speech.
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US ambassador to Ireland Clare Cronin was in Ballina on Thursday to see for herself the preparation that is going into it. “There is no American presidency who has embraced his Irish ancestry so deeply,” she says. “It is very much part of who he is.” The public is being encouraged to register with the embassy for tickets. There will be no other way to gain admission.
Many people in Ballina are calling it a once-in-a-lifetime event, but they said the same thing about then-vice-president Biden when he visited the town in 2016. There’s a world of difference between being a heartbeat away from the presidency and being the president of the most powerful country on Earth.
The difference is reflected in the measure of media involvement in the visit. Ballina is expecting 450 foreign media organisations and that does not include the American or Irish variety. The Biden mural erected in 2020 is closed off to the public as it is the site of Market Square which is being redeveloped as a remote working hub, but there is talk of opening up for the overspill crowd who will not be able to attend the president’s public address outside the cathedral.
Mr Biden’s third cousin, Joe Blewitt, said he has lost count of the number of foreign media who have contacted him in relation to the visit. One Swiss journalist asked to speak to him. He said he would if the reporter brought him some Swiss chocolate. “He landed over with several bars of Toblerone,” said Mr Blewitt laughing.
Ballina Municipal District cathaoirleach Cllr Mark Duffy said the town has been preparing for several months on the presumption that Mr Biden would visit and he is confident it will be ready. The presidential visit coincides with Ballina300, a year-long series of events to celebrate the town’s tricentenary. “We always hoped he would come, but to have him give his only public address when he is in Ireland here in Ballina is something we couldn’t have dreamed of.”
Within hours of the announcement, the front window of Wispys Discount Store in Garden Street was lit up like July 4th, with red, white and blue balloons and stars and stripes. “We’ve spent the whole morning blowing up balloons. We had advance notice, we were in the know,” said manager Georgina Moyles.
Mary Healy of Mary H’s clothes shop in Garden Street decorated one of her mannequins with stars and stripes. “I used two flags for the skirt and one for the bodice,” she said. She is excited about the visit and hopes it is a good omen that this might be the year finally when Mayo win Sam Maguire again.
On the other side of the country in Co Louth, the stars and stripes are not out yet as local people wait anxiously for confirmation as to where he will visit in the county. Fianna Fáil Cllr Andrea McKevitt, who is also a fifth cousin of Mr Biden, had her nails painted in the colours of the US flag. “I think I’m the only person yet, so I could be starting a trend on Instagram,” she said.
The guessing game is continuing with many locals reporting that the president will visit the ruins of St John’s Castle in Carlingford, the last significant building his ancestors would have seen as they sailed up the Newry canal on the way to a different life in the United States.
