‘Opinion has shifted’ – Calls for Joe Biden mural in Co Mayo to be removed

There have been calls for a Joe Biden mural that was painted in Ballina to be removed, over the President’s stance on the ongoing war in Gaza.

The mural was erected following Mr Biden’s election in 2020 to honour his Mayo heritage, but following the Israel-Hamas war, the mural has been defaced several times — mainly due to the USA’s support of Israel.

Following Ireland, Spain and Norway’s recognition of a Palestinian state, the White House said that Mr Biden wouldn’t ‘unilaterally recognise’ the Palestine state — with Mayo business owner Paul McGinty saying that he has started an online petition for the mural to be removed — which has received over 1,200 signatures.

Mr McGinty said that there is support for the removal of the mural, saying that of the approximate population of 10,000 in Ballina ‘we have over 1,200 signatures,’ and that the consistent defacing/graffiti of the mural, including the phrase ‘Genocide Joe’ is being removed at an extra cost to Mayo County Council.

‘It’s a difficult situation for the people that put [the mural] up — they don’t want to be seen on the wrong side of history,’ Mr McGinty told Morning Ireland. ‘We can’t eulogise Joe Biden, the daily funding of killing and burning men, women and children in a humanitarian catastrophe.

‘Joe Biden came here [to Mayo] in 2023, 20 to 30,000 people came out to see him. A year later, he didn’t even get mentioned in the local media. That’s how much Irish opinion has shifted, and how much Mayo and Ballina opinion has shifted on Joe Biden.’

Fine Gael Councillor Jarlath Munnelly disagreed, saying that while there is a ‘strong opinion’ on the ongoing war in Gaza, Joe Biden is more representative of the Irish diaspora and ancestry — as Mr Biden’s ancestors originally came from Mayo.

‘I think it represents the fact that Joe Biden comes from that link between Ireland and its diaspora,’ Cllr Munnelly said. ‘He’s an immigrant soul of Ireland, really, and I think that’s as far as I’d interpret it.

‘There’s no doubt about the fact that there’s a very strong opinion locally around the war in Gaza — again, that’s something I completely respect, and feelings are very, very high on that issue… but in my opinion the mural of Joe Biden [is that] he’s the current US President, but more importantly he’s somebody who represents that Ireland diaspora and the Irish immigrant community.’

‘The mural was made by a local community group… and I think that in my view, the people who painted the mural in the first place, I would follow by what they’d like to do. I, as a public representative locally, I wouldn’t be telling them that it needs to come down.

‘I know that it’s been defaced and indeed those people have gone back and touched it up, so I would respect their views on it if they thought it was a good move in the first place and there was huge support behind them particularly put there in the first place, but I think [their wishes] should be respected.’