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Joe Biden has been elected the 46th President of the United States of America. We ask the Irish living in the United States to send us their reactions. Here is a selection of their responses:
James Mahon, New York: ‘I breathed a sigh of relief’
I was riding in a taxi from Brooklyn to Manhattan with my fiancée when it emerged that Biden had won the election. Spontaneous street celebrations erupted along our way to the jewelry stores where we had an appointment to look at wedding bands.
We celebrated that afternoon at the Molly Wee pub in Midtown, founded by an Irish immigrant from County Cavan in 1980. It reminded me of my mother, who emigrated from Co Wexford that same year and how much Ireland, like America, has changed since then. The tavern was reminiscent of the old Irish countryside, but the message on the table made it clear that everyone was welcome to share in the “mighty fun” at Molly Wee.
I breathed a sigh of relief that enough Americans heard this same message from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris this November to give the American dream another chance for all who call this country home.
Peter A Bell: “There is a feeling here that a big dark cloud is lifting from the country.”
Peter A. Bell, Syracuse, New York: This year’s’ Americans’ celebrations reminded me of the celebrations I saw in documentaries and movies of VE Day in Europe and VJ Day in America at the end of World War II. ‘
Because I taught at the law school Joe Biden graduated from (long before he started teaching there), and his son Beau graduated from (while I was teaching there), I was able to see ( and briefly interacting with) Joe Biden four times in law school.
I can personally attest to the quality of humanity that you have seen in him in many of his speeches, including the one he delivered tonight. In two of his first two graduation speeches, I, a nobody to him, had the opportunity to speak briefly with then-Senator Biden in small meetings the morning of the graduation ceremony.
Tonight there was a lot of noise and party in the streets of Syracuse. I think part of the excitement and joy comes from affection for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and the belief that they will do a good job for the country. Overall, however, the level of enthusiasm and love for Biden is not as strong as it was for the more magnetic Barack Obama, who also had the charisma of being the first person of color to become president.
However, there was still a lot of dancing and singing in the streets, this year too. The celebrations of Americans this year reminded me of the celebrations I saw in documentaries and movies of VE Day in Europe and VJ Day in America at the end of WWII.
There is a sense here that a great dark cloud is lifting from the country, one that has covered us, unexpectedly, for almost four years. (Of course, not everyone has that sentiment; a lot of people voted for Trump.)
Marie Laliberte: ‘Now we begin the rebuilding process with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.’
Marie Laliberte: ‘President Biden and Vice President Harris will heal us here’
It has been 4 years of horror here in the United States. But now we begin the rebuilding process with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. They are intelligent and loving individuals with a vision of the world. They believe in science and respect our part, not as an isolated nation, but as a partner in this world that we all share. I am ecstatic today!
I know Ireland will welcome you (I love Ballina for celebrating and President Higgins’s welcoming remarks).
President Biden and Vice President Harris will heal us here and restore our part to make the world a better place.
Alison Gibney, New York: ‘pure magic’
Doing my Saturday homework, I heard the sound of car horns and roars of joy from outside. After checking the news for confirmation, I offered a bottle of champagne to my neighbors. Then I went to Times Square with my son Cian (7) so that he could live the historical moment and share the joy of our city. The atmosphere in Times Square was jubilant. People danced, waved flags, and chanted while cars honked in support. Pure magic.
Orlaith McCarthy – Estes, Oakham, Massachusetts: ‘Welcome back to America!’
I moved to the United States in the mid-80s, initially on a J1 visa and only for the summers. I had no intention of making America my home away from home, but life passes. I raised my children to be proud Americans. They also have a very strong sense of being Irish. I would explain that playing the National Anthem was important. I feel that now, after a very evil and dark time in this country, we are starving for decency, hope, intelligence, respect, moral and social responsibility to return. We hope again!
Barrie-John Murphy, Bucks County, Pennsylvania: ‘I didn’t fill out a mail-in ballot, but in hindsight, I should have’
I admire iconoclasts, so I intended to vote for Donald Trump. I didn’t fill out a mail-in ballot, but in hindsight, I should have. Normally, I am in and out of my polling place. We only have a population of 1200. But when I got to my polling place, the line stretched for half a mile. I gave up.
Not wanting to leave, I put on my freelance journalist outfit and interviewed some voters, some of whom had to wait almost two hours to vote. Everyone was relaxed and friendly; both sides are Americans and they do what Americans do: exercise their right to vote. In the end, it was my state, the Keystone State, that would cost Trump the key to the White House.
Cathy Peterson-Doyle, North Carolina: ‘Now, Hopefully, America Can Rejoin the Union of Civilized People’
We are super happy here! We live back and forth between Asheville and Co Sligo and were making plans to return permanently in case Trump won again. We will keep moving at some point, but now we have a little more time to plan. It’s a joyous day here, people dancing in the streets and such a palpable sense of relief. Now, hopefully, America can rejoin the union of civilized people!
Denim Johnson, Florida: ‘We are deeply concerned that Biden’s election will be a crossroads for America’
My area is strongly Republican. People in my circles are very upset by the outcome of the elections. I get a lot of emails with prayer suggestions. We are deeply concerned that Biden’s election is a crossroads for America and that there is no going back. We don’t know who is really behind him and who will run the country.
Personally, I turn off the news. There were two college football games on national television tonight. Major stations announced their plan to discontinue coverage of Biden’s speech. There were immediate announcements from alternate stations that would continue to cover the games. The games were very exciting and I think most of the viewers skipped the Biden chatter. I think we will be skipping their nonsense for the next four years and hopefully ignoring their mandates and defeating their move towards socialism.
Joseph Kaiser: ‘Today I am no longer ashamed to be an American’
I woke up with overwhelming relief at the outcome and one in which our democracy had withdrawn from the abyss of another four dark years of the Trump presidency.
Today I am no longer ashamed to be an American, but I continue to carry disbelief, which is why many of my fellow citizens are still filled with Trump-fueled rage who refuse to see Trump as anything other than their beloved leader.
Steven Lloyd: ‘The only wins they get are cheating’
Forged with fraud. It has been evident for a long time. Liberal people cannot have voter identification laws because the only benefits they get are cheating. Obviously, it is not reported because this is the natural order of the loss of means and freedoms before some kind of socialism or communism.
Niamh Coleman: ‘There’s a lot of healing to do‘
These last few years have been literally unbearable. When Trump was first elected, there was always the feeling that perhaps his campaign vitriol was dramatic for vote-getting purposes and that he may not be so bad when he’s elected. On the contrary. The election emboldened him and the hateful and persistent rhetoric has endured for four years. To the point that I no longer recognized the country to which I emigrated in 2003.
Many members of the Irish community here, especially recent immigrants, felt the same way. Constant hatred, persistent 24/7 tweets, and fundamentalist policies sought to set this country back decades. It felt like another civil war was in full swing.
Fortunately, we now have a new era and today’s overwhelming feelings are one of relief and hope. But there is a lot of healing to do. 71 million people voted for Trump. Both Republicans and Democrats now need to shape the way so that we can break the divide and so that we can save lives by gaining some consistency in the way Covid is managed. We feel the love of the rest of the world tonight!
Joseph McConnell, Pennsylvania: ‘America didn’t deserve President Trump‘
I am sixty-eight years old and a blatant supporter of President Trump. Like many of my fellow Republicans, I am deeply disappointed in America’s rigged election.
I have a pragmatic view of what has happened: America did not deserve President Trump. He is a good man who was trying to do good in an evil place full of ungrateful people. So now America has Biden.
All those who made this tragic day possible must share the blame for the inevitable demise of this once great experiment in democracy called the United States.
Shauna Keating, San Jose, California: ‘This has certainly been a bittersweet victory’
We were brought to tears when we heard Biden speak, remembering what it was like to hear a real and proper president speak again! (I think it was his use of the word “we” instead of “me” that did it). We are all saying that we believe we will have a deeper sleep for the first time in four years.
For me, and I’m sure for many, this has certainly been a bittersweet victory: perhaps as much as we may feel relieved, we are shocked and disgusted by how this election could be remotely close, much less as close as it was. . .
While I am so grateful for the outcome that a true president will have again, I, along with so many others, have to reconcile this disappointment and all that has been wasted by – worse than a single man – our compatriots who voted for him . I suppose only time will tell if this was our racism, a mass cult, or just social stupidity, but whatever it is, I’ll never be able to see my beloved country the same way again.
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