Remarks by President Biden During Guestbook Signing

 
Áras an Uachtaráin
Dublin, Republic of Ireland

12:18 P.M. IST
 
PRESIDENT BIDEN:  My grandfather used to have a saying that was — for a long time, I thought it was his and not Yeats.  But it was Yeats’s saying.  And he said that, “Your feet will bring you to where your heart is.”
 
PRESIDENT HIGGINS:  (Inaudible.)  As they would say in Irish — (speaks Irish.)
 
PRESIDENT BIDEN:  I can’t — I can’t come close to saying that.  (Laughs.)
 
MRS. HIGGINS:  (Inaudible.)
 
PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Well, thank you.  Thank you, thank you.  It’s wonderful to be back.
 
Q    Mr. President, what are your quintessentially Irish characteristics.
 
PRESIDENT BIDEN:  (Laughs.)  I — I’m not going to presume.  I’ll let others make that judgment.
 
Q    Do you have an update on the leak investigation?
 
(President Biden, President Higgins, and Mrs. Higgins pose for photo.) 
 
PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Thank you, thank you, thank you. 
 
We’re going to go plant a tree. 
 
Q    Mr. President, what did you write in the book?
 
PRESIDENT BIDEN:  What I wrote in the book was, “As the Irish saying goes, ‘Your feet will bring you where your heart is.’”  And then I say, “It’s a — it’s an honor to return” — and I talk about returning again to the home of my ancestors — “to celebrate the — the things that bind Ireland and the United States and recommit ourselves to peace, equity, and” — I think the most Irish of words used in my family was “dignity” — “and dignity.” 
 
PRESIDENT HIGGINS:  Dignity.  (Inaudible.)
 
PRESIDENT BIDEN:  At any rate, thank you all very much.
 
And I’m not going home.  I’m staying here because isn’t this an incredible place?  All you American reporters, looks just like the White House, right? 
 
PRESIDENT HIGGINS:  (Speaks in Irish.)
 
Mr. President.
 
PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Thank you, man.  Thank you.
 
All right.  Thank you, thank you, thank you. 
 
Going that way?  Thank you, folks. 
 
12:21 P.M. IST