US SENATOR BERNIE Sanders has accompanied his wife Jane to a Co Kildare town where she traces her roots for the unveiling of plaque commemorating an anti-war song.

Dr Jane O’Meara Sanders, an activist and political strategist, has ancestral links to Athy.

The couple were special guests at St Michael’s Cemetery in the town for the unveiling of the plaque dedicated to the 19th century anti-war folk song “Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye”.

The song tells the story of a woman who, on the road to Athy, meets a former lover who has returned from war badly injured.

The plaque is part of the Made Of Athy Project, a local initiative that recognises people with links to the town who have made significant contributions to world culture.

Mr and Mrs Sanders attended the event during their short visit to Ireland.

On Saturday evening, the 83-year-old US senator urged working people in Ireland and across the world to unite to stop the rise of oligarchy as he delivered a keynote speech in Dublin.

He used an address at the Robert Tressell Festival at Liberty Hall to criticise what he characterised as a new generation of billionaires who do not believe in government or democracy.

Mr Sanders also expressed concern that artificial intelligence and new technology were being used against working people, to take their jobs, rather than being harnessed to benefit workers and generate wealth across society.