NO SPECIAL TREATMENT

US operatives taking over Co Mayo town of ancestors | Locals braced for Biden party and historic moment

- JOHN HAND

THE “Special Branch of America” has taken over the town of US President Joe Biden’s ancestors – and one said: “They say what they want and you don’t have a lot of say otherwise.”

Biden, 80, will round up his four-day trip in Ballina, Co Mayo, on Friday where he will make an historic speech outside St Muredach’s Cathedral in front of 20,000 or more spectators.

And it’s a celebration that coincides with 300 years since Ballina’s formal establishment as a town.

For the past number of weeks, shoulders have been to the wheel in preparation for the tourism bonanza to hit the area as residents spruce up the streets.

But members of the US Secret Service’s advance party have also been making preparations, basing themselves in the local council building.

And John O’Hara, a local councillor, says the specialist security team have been dictating the decisions around the trip. 

He told the Irish Mirror: “We’ve had what we call the ‘Special Branch from America’ here for the last two weeks and they’ve taken over the council building, the bottom and top floor and they seem to be in full command of the garda station.