Irish-Americans a driving force in campaign to get Joe Biden elected

Smyth is one of the leading voices in the Irish campaign to get Biden elected and he is focused on more than just tweeting. A member of the Irish Americans for Joe steering committee, he has been organising virtual events, online campaign meetings and "phone banking" - working alongside a team of volunteers to call every Irish person from New York to Boston.

He believes Biden is the best choice for president "by an Irish mile for Irish America and for peace and prosperity in Ireland". He is also confident the Irish vote can help get it over the line.

Smyth says he has seen the "political power of Irish America" since he first came to America as head of press for the Irish government in 1976. Three presidents - Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton - contributed to the Irish peace process over three decades.

Biden's team are "closely monitoring" how the British government deal with Brexit, having warned any risk to the peace process would scupper any possibility of a future US trade deal.

Due to the pandemic, Smyth and others are not knocking on doors, but are making phone calls and texting likely voters.

"This feels strange, not being personal with folks on their doorstep," he says. "But in calls with Biden's campaign staff we are urged to rally Irish America for Joe, do phone banking, and don't leave one vote behind."

"This will be the most Irish election since John F Kennedy," says Niall O'Dowd. The journalist and author from Co Louth has just attended a virtual event along with more than 600 Irish-Americans focusing on shoring up support for Biden. It's one of six events over the next three weeks aimed at maximising Irish support in which O'Dowd is involved.

His motivation? To get Donald Trump out of the White House, fearing another term "would be a disaster for all Americans and democracies all over the world".

O'Dowd wants to see the Democratic presidential nominee - whose great-grandfather, James Finnegan, also emigrated from Louth as a child - become the 46th president. He believes Trump is running a regime "with no respect for democratic norms or practices".

"This is a Mafia-style government where loyalty to Trump, the 'capo di tutti capi', is the only currency. Trump is surrounded by his kleptocratic family," he says.

Last week Dublin-born Samantha Power, a former ambassador to the United Nations who is now advising Biden, told O'Dowd and others via Zoom they have a "chance to elevate the most Irish of Americans to the highest office in the land".

"We are less than a month away from making that happen, more than 33 million Americans claim Irish ancestry and swing states that can turn the election have really prominent Irish-American communities."

Irish-American support "can be a game changer" for Biden, says Power, but cautiously adds: "Each of us need to do more than just say our Hail Marys or Our Fathers." She suggested Ireland and America "have a chance to do big things together" under Biden.

Biden has frequently quoted Seamus Heaney in his speeches, and earlier this month during the first presidential debate referenced his roots and religion. But even before the first debate with Trump, the former vice-president was putting together a special team, with Irish connections.

His campaign is being led by Jen O'Malley Dillon, whose ancestors are from Co Mayo, while John McCarthy, who can trace his family back to Cork, is deputy national political director. Other Irish-Americans include Anita Dunn, formerly Obama's communications director, Tom Donilon, another ex-Obama aide, and Jake Sullivan as Biden's foreign policy experts. The steering committee also works closely with the election campaign and includes O'Dowd and O'Dwyer along with Ambassador Kevin O'Malley, John Fitzpatrick, the hotelier and philanthropist, Kieran McLoughlin, former President of the Ireland Fund, Brian McGlinchey, a Biden veteran, and Stella O'Leary, who heads up the Irish-American Democrats.

"Biden knows what he's talking about, I am totally confident he will get elected; the polls are amazing," she says.

Back in New Hampshire, Smyth's schedule is filling up already. He'll spend the rest of the day attending online meetings, making Zoom calls and telephone calls and placing more 'Irish for Biden' signs on the roads.

"As we Irish say, Ní neart go cur le chéile - there's no strength without unity. Irish-Americans and Americans need Joe Biden to unite America now, more than ever," he says.