V.P CAVALCADE A REMARKABLE SIGHT ON LOUTH ROADS

A bird’s eye view of the Vice President’s cavalcade travelling through Louth might have been the only way to appreciate the full extent of the entourage which accompanied Joe Biden as he headed to Cooley to reconnect with his ancestral roots on Saturday last.

Beginning in Meath, at the world heritage site Newgrange, it was clear that the visit of an American Vice President is a hugely significant event for every county in Ireland.

Joking as he went into the 5,000 year old passage tomb ‘If I don’t come out in a thousand years, come and get me!’ coverage of his trip to Mayo had highlighted just how valued this ‘ son of Ireland’ really was to those who claimed him as one of their own.

It was an impressive sight, the arrival of the Biden clan, supported by a 23 vehicle long cavalcade that stretched almost a mile long as it crossed the border into Louth, and onto the MI.

Rolling road closures had been advised in advance, but one entire section of the busy Dublin- Belfast motorway was closed for a time to allow the motorcade, and garda outriders which flanked it, to make the un-interrupted journey to the Cooley pensinula.

Once it turned off the MI, and veered across the overpass to the Ballymac roundabout, Louth really began its big welcome for ‘ one of their own.’

All along the journey, local people gathered, waving American flags, Irish flags and banners welcoming the Vice President, who most likely enjoyed a laugh at one sign which read ‘Underwood for President 2016’, in reference to the Netflix series ‘House of Cards’.

Houses along the Dundalk to Carlingford road dotted their windows and roofs with welcome signs, and people hung out of upstairs windows waving and cheering as the lights flickered by on a stream of blacked out vehicles, one of which carried the world’s second most powerful man.

Overhead, a helicopter surveyed the area ahead, clearing the path ahead for the armoured vehicles which had been flown all the way from the US to provide transport for their deputy commander in chief.

Little information had been released publicly about the Vice President’s itinerary or the route he was taking ahead of time, although many locals had clearly worked out his destination.

Security remained a priority throughout the trip, combining not only specific US personnel and the Vice President’s ‘detail’ led by the secret service, but also placed an onus on the gardai, who provided extensive resources during the visit, and the Irish army who were also involved in pre-planning due to their expertise.