By Cassidy McNeeley and Bill Forry, Reporter Staff
President Joseph R. Biden made a surprise appearance at the Irish American Partnership’s annual Saint Patrick’s Day breakfast celebration on Tuesday morning.
The former president was brought to the stage by his former US Ambassador to Ireland Claire Cronin, a Brockton native and former Massachusetts state representative.
“As we celebrate today, we celebrate our Irish ancestry, the US-Ireland relationship, and the values that shape what it means to be Irish,” said Cronin. “And there is no one who embodies our shared values more than today’s special guest, President Joe Biden.”
Cronin then directed the hundreds of guests to look toward her right as the 46th president of the United States appeared from behind a white curtain illuminated with green lights. As Biden climbed up the small set of stairs to the stage, he was met with a standing ovation and the iconic Celtic anthem “I’m Shipping Up to Boston.”
The crowd of more than 500 people gathered inside the Intercontinental Hotel erupted in cheers.
Cronin described Biden as having “a belief in justice, a belief in the power of democracy.”
“A belief in the Constitution and a separation of powers. A belief in the power of diplomacy and an understanding that there is a difference between governing and ruling. And most of all, President Biden has a belief in the American people,” Cronin said.
In his address to the audience, Biden reflected on his own family’s ties to the Island, specifically County Mayo, saying he was “raised by an Irish Catholic family.”
“St. Patrick’s Day is about celebrating the bond of family and friendship among the Irish and Irish Americans,” he added.
Biden joked that his appearance was living up to doing just what the Irish diplomat Shane Leslie said, “Every St. Patrick’s Day, every Irishman goes out to find another Irishman to make a speech to.”
Biden told the Boston audience in his remarks: “My mom used to have a saying. Joey as long as you’re alive, you have an obligation to strive and you’re not dead until you see the face of God. Whatever my legacy may be I hope it be said that I never stopped striving for the cause of democracy.”
The Irish American Partnership’s March 17 breakfast is a marquee event on the region’s St. Patrick’s Day calendar. Also in attendance today was Governor Maura Healey, who was the keynote speaker. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu was also a notable attendee.
Also on hand was Ireland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs & Trade and Minister for Defense, Helen McEntee, who is one of several Irish political leaders visiting the United States for the holiday.
Biden, an Irish-American who carried Boston by lopsided margins as a presidential candidate in 2020 and also twice as President Barack Obama’s vice-president, is a beloved figure in Irish American circles in particular.
In her remarks, Gov. Healey said: “Mr. President, I think we should have known we’d find you in Boston on St. Patricks Day. No president has celebrated his Irish roots as you have, and no city celebrates its Irish roots as Boston does.”
She added: “This is a wonderful opportunity for us to all say thank you to you for your years and years of dedicated service to this country and for all that you delivered to its people. I especially appreciate the integrity you brought to your work, to that office, and your unseasing efforts to try to bring people togethoer and to move us forward.”
“Your words today were particularly resonate and meaningful and I think leave us all inspired. We will leave here today thinking about a collective nostalgia for the future. We’ll think about leaving, always looking to that horizon together.”
“You see immigrants being demonized,” said Healey. “In many cases being treated so unjustly in ways that are truly un-American and not who we are. It’s worth recalling that many of our own ancestors did not receive the warmest welcome. Let us learn from our mistakes.”
