Many in Ireland congratulated Joe Biden after he was projected to be the 46th President of the United States – calling him a friend to his ancestral home. 

Ireland's Prime Minister Micheal Martin was one of the first foreign leaders to congratulate Biden on his expected win. 

He wrote on Twitter: "I want to congratulate the new President Elect of the USA Joe Biden. [He] has been a true friend of this nation throughout his life and I look forward to working with him in the years ahead." 

He later added in a statement: "Ireland takes pride in Joe Biden's election, just as we are proud of all the generations of Irish women and Irish men and their ancestors whose toil and genius have enriched the diversity that powers America."

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Biden's Irish roots 

Biden's great-great-great-grandfather immigrate to the United States 170 years ago, during the potato famine. He was from Ballina, a small town in the west of Ireland. 

Despite this two-hundred-year history, Biden still has familiar connection to this city, and Ballina prides itself on being Biden's ancestral home. 

Images of Biden can be found scattered across the city. In 2016, he even visited while he was serving as Vice President to President Obama. 

During this trip, he met his extended family that still resides in the town. One of his cousins, Joe Blewitt, has even visited Biden several times at the White House. 

Blewitt is a plumber, and during the election he wrote the slogan "Joe Biden for the White House, Joe Blewitt for your house" on his van to show his support for his distant relative. 

Before Biden's projected win, he told Reuters: "He's going to be the most powerful man in the world. So it's great, it's great for the town."

Another reason some in Ireland are excited at the prospect of a Biden presidency is because of Brexit, which is fast approaching, and the related anxiety over the Good Friday Agreement.

The Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998 and brought an end to the troubles that pledged Northern Ireland for decades. 

Brexit negotiations have been criticized for potentially endangering that agreement because of the possibility that any new arrangements might create a physical border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. 

Before the election, Biden had expressed his support of the Good Friday Agreement and his concerns about Brexit. 

"We can't allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit," Biden tweeted in September. 

"Any trade deal between the U.S. and UK must be contingent upon respect for the Agreement and preventing the return of a hard border. Period."

Micheal Martin also commented on this support in his previous statement.

"Joe Biden has always been a stalwart friend and supporter of Ireland, including of the prosperity, stability and opportunity made possible by the Good Friday Agreement (for Northern Ireland), to which he has pledged his ongoing steadfast support," he said. 

Colum Eastwood, the leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party in Ireland, also mentioned this after congratulating Biden on his projected win. 

He tweeted at British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, stating: "Maybe you'll listen to [Joe Biden] on the Good Friday Agreement now."

Even politicians in Ballina have stated that they believe Biden will help preserve the Good Friday agreement once he is president of the United States. 

"Given the fact that Brexit talks are still ongoing, and the Good Friday Agreement needs to be protected, [Biden's win] means a lot," Mark Duffy, a counsellor in Ballina, told AFP. 

"It matters a lot to people both in Ballina and across the island of Ireland that Joe Biden is elected to help protect Irish interests internationally."

Video editor: Nuri Moseinco