President Biden moved by his visit to patients of Mayo Hospice

The heart of the president’s visit was the Mayo Hospice in Castlebar.

That's according to Joe Brolly, writing in today's issue of The Sunday Independent.

Joe, husband of President Bident's cousin, broadcaster Laurita Blewitt, wrote: "Six years ago, we brought him to the site where he dug the first sod.

"It was clear, as I noted in my speech then, that he had never handled a spade before.

"But it was the spark for a miracle. Without fuss, Joe hosted a private fundraising dinner.

"His seal of approval, his assistance whenever we needed it, helped to ensure the €10 million we needed was raised.

"A state-of-the-art hospice was built, entirely debt free.

"A free service for our most vulnerable friends and neighbours at the end of their precious lives. A place of love and human dignity.

"Regularly, Joe would call us to check how things were going and to offer his help.

"When we told him in Washington that we had dedicated the hospice to the memory of his beloved son Beau and showed him pictures of the dedication stone, he wept.

"There are 14 beds in the hospice. No press were permitted for the visit.

"Only a few board members, some staff and a few close relations. On the morning of his visit, one of our patients slipped away.

"When the president arrived with his sister Val and son Hunter, they stood looking down at the dedication stone, holding hands, holding back tears.

"Then, when they were inside and the palliative care consultants asked him if he would visit the patients, Joe was plainly moved.

"He spent an hour with them, embracing each one of them, speaking tenderly with them.

"When he came back out to us and Mairéad told me that the patients were astonished and elated by what he had done, I wept."