US President Joe Biden is set to arrive in Belfast this evening to mark the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday peace agreement. The 1998 deal brought an end to the Troubles, a decades-long violent conflict in Northern Ireland in which thousands of people were killed. A huge security operation is already in place in Belfast for the visit.
Ahead of his arrival, Mr Biden said: “I look forward to marking the anniversary in Belfast, underscoring the US commitment to preserving peace and encouraging prosperity.” His visit to Belfast will be the first leg of a four-day stay in Ireland, during which he will discuss his Irish roots and meet Irish relatives.
The US president will travel from Washington DC on Air Force One and will arrive at Belfast International Airport some time on Tuesday evening. Upon his arrival he will be greeted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The main event will be a speech at the new Ulster University campus in Belfast. It is understood that he will use that to underscore the willingness of the US to help to preserve what he sees as the peace and prosperity gained since the Good Friday Agreement.
The president is also expected to talk about how the US administration can support Northern Ireland’s economy. He is expected to meet the leaders of Stormont’s five main political parties at some point during his brief time in the city.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair said Mr Biden’s visit could have a “positive” effect on restoring power-sharing at Stormont. But he warned that American influence on Northern Ireland politics had to be used with “care and sensitivity”. Former Irish ambassador to the US Daniel Mulhall said that Mr Biden would have preferred to have spoken to politicians at a functioning Stormont assembly.
President Biden regularly speaks of his Irish heritage and had promised to visit the country during his presidency. A US genealogist who researched his lineage had estimated he is “roughly five-eighths” Irish. Among his great-grandparents was Edward Blewitt, an engineer and brickmaker who left the west coast town of Ballina in County Mayo in 1850. He settled in Scranton in Pennsylvania as the devastating Irish potato famine was causing widespread starvation.
US President Joe Biden is set to arrive in Belfast this evening to mark the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday peace agreement. The 1998 deal brought an end to the Troubles, a decades-long violent conflict in Northern Ireland in which thousands of people were killed. Ahead of his arrival, Mr Biden said: “I look forward to marking the anniversary in Belfast, underscoring the US commitment to preserving peace and encouraging prosperity.”
Mr Biden’s trip comes two weeks after MI5 said the terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland had increased due to a rise in activity by dissident republicans. During an illegal parade by dissident republicans in Londonderry on Monday petrol bombs were thrown at a police vehicle but the violence was confined to one area and ended a short time later. The president’s spokesman said Mr Biden was “more than comfortable making this trip” in spite of the terrorism threat.
The US president will travel from Washington DC on Air Force One and will arrive at Belfast International Airport some time on Tuesday evening. Upon his arrival he will be greeted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The main event will be a speech at the new Ulster University campus in Belfast. It is understood that he will use that to underscore the willingness of the US to help to preserve what he sees as the peace and prosperity gained since the Good Friday Agreement.
The president is also expected to talk about how the US administration can support Northern Ireland’s economy. He is expected to meet the leaders of Stormont’s five main political parties at some point during his brief time in the city. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair said Mr Biden’s visit could have a “positive” effect on restoring power-sharing at Stormont. But he warned that American influence on Northern Ireland politics had to be used with “care and sensitivity”.
President Biden regularly speaks of his Irish heritage and had promised to visit the country during his presidency. A US genealogist who researched his lineage had estimated he is “roughly five-eighths” Irish. Among his great-grandparents was Edward Blewitt, an engineer and brickmaker who left the west coast town of Ballina in County Mayo in 1850. He settled in Scranton in Pennsylvania as the devastating Irish potato famine was causing widespread starvation.
Mr Biden’s visit is overshadowed by the fact that Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government is not functioning. It collapsed last year when the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) – one of the biggest parties at Stormont – pulled out as part of a protest against post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland. His visit to Belfast will be part of a four-day stay in Ireland, during which he will discuss his Irish roots and meet Irish relatives.
A huge security operation is already in place in Belfast for the visit. There has been some tension behind the scenes about the details of this visit. Things have been strained between Downing Street and the White House in terms of what the president will do in Northern Ireland and the fact that he will not go to Stormont. Mr Sunak will not meet any of Northern Ireland’s political leaders while he is in Belfast to speak to the president.
Former Irish ambassador to the US Daniel Mulhall said that Mr Biden would have preferred to have spoken to politicians at a functioning Stormont assembly. But he added: “His speech [at Ulster University] will be very carefully crafted to get across the message that essentially America is here to help.” Asked if that meant he had given up on getting the DUP back into power-sharing, the PM’s press secretary said: “No, not at all.”