DUBLIN — President Biden thanked the Irish people for their support of Ukraine in its battle against Russia, speaking during a session of Ireland’s Parliament on Thursday as part of a three-day trip that is both a personal journey and diplomacy.
“Today, the United States and Ireland are standing together to oppose Russia’s brutal aggression and to support the brave people of Ukraine,” Mr. Biden said before a packed and enthusiastic legislative chamber.
“Ireland has stood proudly with the United States and partners around the world for liberty against tyranny,” he added.
Mr. Biden used the speech to continue his efforts to shore up the global alliance on behalf of Ukraine, highlighting Ireland’s humanitarian assistance and its acceptance of some 80,000 refugees who have fled the war-torn country.
Many of those refugees are being lodged in hotels throughout Dublin and elsewhere in Ireland, a country where housing is scarce and expensive.
“Ireland remembers the terrible cost of war,” Mr. Biden said, as he praised the country’s willingness to accept Ukrainians who have fled the violence in their country.
Before addressing Parliament, Mr. Biden met on Thursday with Leo Varadkar, the prime minister of Ireland, and thanked him for welcoming Ukrainians to his country.
“I know it’s not easy,” Mr. Biden said.
In turn, Mr. Varadkar told Mr. Biden he “never thought, in my lifetime, that we would see a war of this nature happen in Europe again.”
“If it wasn’t for American leadership, and if it wasn’t for American and Europe working together, I don’t know what kind of world we would live in,” he added.
Mr. Biden’s remarks come a day after he stopped briefly in Northern Ireland to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, a peace deal that largely ended decades of deadly sectarian violence known as the Troubles.
During his meetings in Belfast, Mr. Biden studiously avoided being drawn into the details of the continuing domestic disputes between the political parties in Northern Ireland. Aides declined to comment on repeated questions about stalled negotiations about power sharing in the territory.
The president has also sought to deflect questions about political issues brewing back in the United States, like the administration’s response to a judge’s ruling on an abortion pill.
Mr. Biden and his top aides are hoping to keep attention focused on Ireland for the duration of the trip, which the president has made clear is very personal to him.
The moments of diplomacy — including meetings on Thursday with the prime minister and the president of Ireland — have been sandwiched between visits to Mr. Biden’s ancestral hometowns in County Louth and County Mayo.
In remarks at a bar in Dundalk on Wednesday evening, Mr. Biden compared Ireland and the United States, saying the same quality powers the success of both countries.
“Hope. Every action is about hope,” he said. “It can make things better. And hope that built both our nations and has been passed down, generation to generation, by our families. And it’s hope that continues to this day.”
On Thursday, he joked that he felt so at home in Ireland that he may never go back to the United States.
“As the Irish saying goes, your feet will bring you to where your heart is,” he said, calling it “an honor to return and to come home to the home of my ancestors.”
He added: “I’m not going home.”
