What difference will a Biden presidency make here?

In June 2019, President Donald Trump had just stepped off the plane at Shannon Airport sitting next to then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar when the visitor released the latest scandal.

Trump said: “I think everything will work out for you: your wall, your border.”

Visibly uncomfortable, Varadkar blinked as the US president made an unpleasant comparison between his plans for a wall on the US-Mexico border and the problems Brexit posed for the seamless border on the island of Ireland.

The Fine Gael leader intervened, pointing out that the government’s goal was to avoid a border or wall. Trump, puzzled, replied: “I think so.”

It was a bad start to an already controversial visit.

Contrast this with the warmth shown to Joe Biden three years earlier when he visited as Vice President of the United States and everything was harmony, even in Áras an Uachtain.

The night before Donald Trump arrived in Ireland, President Michael D. Higgins criticized his record on climate change as “regressive and pernicious.”

It’s clear that when diplomatic niceties are stripped away, the Irish administration clearly has a preference for Biden over Trump.

The official veneer slipped in in recent days with comments from Taoiseach and Tánaiste indicating that Biden has been a good friend to Ireland.

So what difference will a Biden presidency make here?

The president-elect’s impact on the White House will be felt most immediately in Brexit and Northern Ireland.

First of all, on Brexit, Joe Biden’s Irish roots and appreciation for the Good Friday Agreement mean he is seen as more on the Irish side.

This was exemplified by their intervention in September when the UK unveiled its plans to illegally nullify parts of the already agreed trade deal.

He warned the UK not to back down from its commitments, tweeting: “We cannot allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a victim of Brexit.”

“Any trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom must depend on respecting the agreement and preventing a return from a hard border.”

President Trump, however, had been a cheerleader for Brexit and counted former UKIP leader Nigel Farage among his supporters.

There is a sense that Biden’s support combined with that of the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives can only strengthen Ireland’s hand.

On global trade and tax issues, however, Joe Biden can soften the rhetoric, but has also stressed that he wants American companies to go back to manufacturing on American soil.

And that’s bad news for Ireland.

On the bright side, however, Biden has firmly signaled that he wants to re-commit to America’s commitments to address climate change.

And on a lighter note, officials and politicians here are hopeful for a visit to the country during the third year, one that would be far less painful than Trump’s divisive arrival in 2019.

Biden has already toured his ancestors’ counties in May and Louth and will surely visit them again, this time as President of the United States.

And Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl along with Seanad’s Cathaoirleach Mark Daly have wasted no time in writing to the Taoiseach urging him to invite Joe Biden to return to Ireland soon and address a joint session of Dáil and Seanad.

The only question would be where to locate the gas station that will surely be named in his honor.