Joe Biden: Ireland still a 'cornerstone' of US policy
United States Vice President Joe Biden has said that Ireland will still remain a “cornerstone” of US international policy following the British exit from the EU this morning.
Mr Biden said upon hearing the news this morning of a Brexit that he would have “preferred a different outcome.”
He said: "We, the President and I, the US, found that a majority of the British people voted to leave the European Union. We had looked for a different outcome."
The visiting US politician stated that his country “fully respect the decision they have made” and Mr Biden added that “America’s special bond with the UK runs deep and will endure”.
Mr Biden was speaking at an event in Trinity College this morning where he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the university.
Mr Biden was joined in Trinity by members of his family and his five grandchildren, who have accompanied him on his visit to Ireland. It is the first such honorary doctorate the Vice President has received outside of the United States.
The ceremony was held in Trinity's Public Theatre, where the Chancellor of Trinity college, former Irish President Mary Robinson and the current college Provost Dr Patrick Prendergast welcomed the US Vice President.
Speaking at the event Mr Biden said it was an “enormous privilege” to receive the honorary doctorate.
Addressing the crowd of graduating Trinity doctorate students seated in the hall, Mr Biden said “I am honoured to have the opportunity to speak today, you are preparing to add your intellectual talent to the world.”
“We are at an inflection point in world history, we’ve never had as much potential to do so much good. You are graduating into a world that can make change. Our world is infinitely more complex, that complexity holds opportunity” Mr Biden said. “You can do a hell of a lot. You are put in a moment in history that makes it possible. Go and do good” Mr Biden concluded.
Mr Biden was also awarded a gold medal by the Trinity Philosophical Society, and then taken by the Trinity Provost and President Patrick Prendergast to view the Book of Kells.
