In the early weeks of 2020, Joe Biden, who was contesting for the Democratic selection for US president at the time, turned down a casual request for a statement from BBC reporter Nick Bryant in Iowa, stating, “The BBC? I’m Irish”, then sauntered off. It’s unlikely such an event will occur again now that Biden’s term in office is coming to an end. It signifies the termination of a specific Irish-American political standpoint and story due to societal, demographic, and generational evolutions.
During his recent visit to Washington, Taoiseach Simon Harris emphasized a hundred years of Irish-American ties and their promising future. However, the time when an American leader could resonate powerfully with Irish lineage has passed. Although tradition might allow for Irish representatives to continue visiting the White House, it’s improbable these visits will keep the same emotional intensity or diplomatic weight they once had. It’s implausible for future American leaders to make the assertion Biden did in 2016, that Ireland is “engraved on my soul”.
Biden’s Irish roots are largely a remnant of the past, crafted by traditional Irish-American Catholic values prevalent in the family-based community in Pennsylvania in the 1940s. This shaped Biden into an “Irish Catholic like me, who grew up in Scranton”, a persona he brought forward in his initial face-off with Donald Trump.
Of the ten million Irish emigrants from the early 17th century to the present day, over six million found a home in America. Their significant contributions to the building of America, across a spectrum of faiths, are well chronicled. The significance of the Irish-American bond played a crucial role during the Irish revolutionary period and the birth of the Irish Free State a hundred years ago. From the words of Joseph P. Walshe, then the acting secretary to the Department of External Affairs, “America is the only nation with which our ties are completely unconditional and autonomous from any foreign interference”.
The significance of the relationship between Ireland and America over the last century cannot be overlooked due to the influence of the Irish-American diaspora, culturally, economically and socially. Moreover, the election of John F Kennedy in 1960 and the subsequent involvement in Ireland’s Peace Process have all added to this significance. Nevertheless, this relationship has had its fair share of conflicts, for instance America’s “special relationship” with the UK causing a mild unease, Ireland’s neutral stance during WWII angering Washington, and at various points, Ireland’s annoyance at the US’s aggressive foreign policy.
Ireland’s relevance in either Harris or Trump’s perspective during their tenure as president would be low. While Ireland has been recognised for its diplomatic leverage and its capabilities of creating alliances, as the dust settles on contentious topics like Brexit and Northern Ireland, US-Irish interactions may be overshadowed by a sense of Irish peripherality.
The current “America first” approach surrounding issues of investments, taxation, and migration plays a critical role in US debates. In regards to US-EU relations, the topics of defence, security, and energy pose a challenge to Ireland’s foreign policy, and bring up discussions of our dependency and submissiveness. Alongside, the US’s narrative around ethnic identity is changing. The argument that Biden’s Irish heritage uniquely conditioned him to develop empathy for immigrants and face challenges is less convincing now in a deeply divided America.
The count of Americans identifying themselves of Irish heritage has reportedly decreased by a quarter in four decades. Despite this, it still remains above 30 million. Irish-Americans were a key demographic targeted by Biden’s campaign in key states during the 2020 election, including Pennsylvania, which may have made a significant difference. Yet as Liam Kennedy, an Irish-America scholar highlights, conservative Irish-Americans tend to align themselves with a history of Irish oppression and ancestral struggle in America, barely associating this history with empathy for the currently oppressed.
A significant number of Irish-American households have seen a shift in political allegiance from the Democrats to the Republicans over time. Diane Negra claims that the perception of Irish identity in the US is hugely shaped by a past of racial exclusion that casts it as an “enhanced form of whiteness”. High levels of support for Donald Trump were seen in the white Catholic community in America in both 2016 and 2020, and it seems likely this will continue. There’s more to the the Irish-US connection than just the presidency; whether it’s tourism, commerce, or the various informal and formal social, cultural and political ties, they will continue to hold some importance. However, it’s probable that we’ve just seen the final US President who will express their Irish heritage with such fervour.