The reaction by some press and sections of the UK to US President Joe Biden's visit to Ireland is "pathetic."

That's according to The Hard Shoulder host Kieran Cuddihy.

He was speaking after a cartoon in a UK newspaper, depicting the US President as a leprechaun, has been heavily criticised.

The drawing appears in The Times of London, and shows President Biden wearing a green shamrock suit while holding a pint of Guinness and dancing.

It also shows him with a speech bubble, which reads: "I just love Northern Ireland".

Cartoonist Peter Brookes has said the drawing shows "where the emphasis of Blarney Biden's visit lies."

The depiction in The Times of US President Joe Biden as a leprechaun. Picture via @BrookesTimes on Twitter

President Biden has spent the last few days in Ireland praising his Irish heritage and the people of Ireland.

There was criticism from former Northern Ireland first minister Arlene Foster, who claimed Mr Biden "hates the United Kingdom."

Kieran said the British criticising the visit seem very thin-skinned.

"There's the usual pearl-clutching and people claiming outrage going on here," he said.

"It's more amusing than anything else.

"It's not just The Times of London and this cartoon.

"'Petty and vindictive' is what he's been called in The Telegraph; The Spectator calls him 'Pernicious and self-indulgent'.

"The Sun says he's 'wasting his time' instead of actually doing good work in Northern Ireland.

"And GB News keep referring - they've said it more than once - to Biden's 'immense hatred of the United Kingdom'.

"What planet are these self-entitled buffoons living on, that they are so offended that Joe Biden appears to actually like Ireland?

"Have they really become that thin-skinned in the UK, it's kind of pathetic actually".

US President Joe Biden addresses the Joint Houses of the Oireachtas. Picture by: Houses of the Oireachtas

Kieran said that when President Biden goes on a state visit to the UK, "it'll be 'special relationship this, Winston Churchill that'".

"Nobody here's going to have their nose out of joint about it, nobody here's going to pay any attention to it.

"Why are some of these folks in the UK dealing with this trip so badly?," he asked.

Main image: Split-screen image shows The Hard Shoulder host Kieran Cuddihy in Newstalk studios, and a cartoon depiction of US President Joe Biden from The Times newspaper in the UK