British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is this week to meet US President Joe Biden in Northern Ireland when the president flies in to participate in events marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
Having helped broker the 1998 deal, the US remains an influential voice in Northern Ireland’s politics and has sought to protect the peace from the strains caused by Britain’s exit from the EU.
Sunak is tomorrow evening to greet Biden when Air Force One lands for what is to be a closely watched visit by both sides of the Irish border at a time of heightened political uncertainty in Northern Ireland. It would be Biden’s first visit to the province as president.
Photo: Reuters
The pair would “undertake a program of engagements,” including a bilateral meeting, Sunak’s Downing Street office said.
Sunak is to attend a commemorative conference at Queen’s University of Belfast, and on Wednesday host a “special gala dinner” to mark the anniversary, it added in a statement setting out some details of his itinerary.
Noting Washington’s “pivotal role” in the peace process, Sunak’s office said the US president’s visit would “celebrate Northern Ireland’s successes and encourage further long-term investment.”
Biden, who often speaks proudly of his Irish roots, would also travel to the neighboring Republic of Ireland during his four-day trip, visiting the capital, Dublin, County Louth and County Mayo, the White House said.
It said that he would deliver an address while there to mark US-Irish ties.
The Good Friday Agreement — signed on April 10, 1998 — largely ended three decades of sectarian bloodshed that had convulsed Northern Ireland since the late 1960s.
However the anniversary has been overshadowed by a year-long boycott by Northern Ireland’s largest pro-British unionist party of the power-sharing devolved government central to the peace deal. The Democratic Unionist Party is angry about post-Brexit trade rules that treated the province differently to the rest of the UK.
Last month, the British Security Service (MI5) increased the threat level in Northern Ireland from domestic terrorism to “severe” — meaning an attack is highly likely — although the move was not thought to be linked to the anniversary.
Biden clashed with the British government at times during Brexit talks, but has spoken in support of a recently agreed UK-EU deal to address some of the tensions caused by the original Brexit agreement.
Additional reporting by AFP
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