Visibly emotional, Biden tells the Irish Parliament: "I'm home."
Biden began his trip with a more serious tone in Northern Ireland.
DUBLIN (Reuters) - US President Joe Biden told the Irish Parliament he was "at home" in an emotional speech on the second day of a nostalgic three-day trip celebrating his Irish heritage as he prepares for a planned 2024 re-election campaign.
"I'm home... I just wish I could stay longer," he said, receiving applause and cheers in the packed hall.
In one of the longest overseas trips of his presidency, Biden became the fourth US president to address the Irish Parliament after John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. A state banquet was planned for the evening.
"Well, Mom, you said it would happen," he said, looking up at the sky at the start of his speech, after also meeting some distant relatives of his late mother on Wednesday.
Biden began his trip on a more serious note in Northern Ireland, where on Wednesday he appealed to local political leaders to restore their power-sharing government with the promise of significant investment from the U.S. government.
But as soon as he crossed the border after that speech, Biden switched to folkloric anecdotes about his Irish relatives and photos with enthusiastic locals.
His great-great-grandfather Owen Finnegan left the Irish county of Louth for the United States in 1849. On Friday, Biden is scheduled to meet with relatives from another side of his family in County Mayo, on the opposite coast of Ireland.