US president Joe Biden said he would love to visit Ireland again, but could not say when he would get to see the country he described as the “motherland”.

Irish premier Micheal Martin said he had reiterated his invite to the US president to visit Ireland.

He made his comments during his trip to Washington to mark the St Patrick’s Day celebrations.

Mr Martin extended the invitation during a virtual meeting with the president after the Fianna Fail leader tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday evening.

Mr Biden’s links to Ireland are well-known and often spoken about by the Democrat politician.

He is seen by many as the most Irish American president to date, with his heritage tracing back to Ballina in Co Mayo and the Cooley Peninsula in Co Louth.

His great-great-grandfather Owen Finnegan emigrated to the US from the Cooley peninsula, while another great-great-grandfather Patrick Blewitt was born in Ballina, leaving during the Irish famine in 1850 to sail to America.

Ten of his 16 great-great-grandparents were also born in Ireland.

Distant relatives celebrated his election win in both areas back in November 2020 and gathered again in January last year to mark his inauguration.

Champagne corks were popped, cakes were baked and a huge mural of the 46th president was painted on a wall in Ballina.

The affection is reciprocated and Mr Biden has visited both counties in recent years to meet long-lost cousins.

Mr Biden visited his ancestral home of Ballina in 2016 when he was US vice president.