US President Joe Biden said he would use his trip to Northern Ireland to help “keep the peace” and harness the benefits of a post-Brexit trade deal as the region celebrates the 25th anniversary of the deal that ended three decades of conflict.
Before leaving for Belfast on Tuesday, the president spoke of lasting stability in the region. He stressed the importance of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which was brokered by the US, and the Windsor Framework, the new agreement between the UK and the EU covering rules for trade in Northern Ireland after Brexit.
Air Force One touched down at 9:20 p.m., and Biden appeared relieved, only to spend several minutes smiling and talking to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the tarmac despite the wind and rain.
Joe Kennedy III, who was appointed by Biden as a special envoy to boost investment in the region, was at the president’s side as he chatted with Sunak for 10 minutes.
Stormont’s power-sharing executive, which was created under the peace deal, was suspended nearly a year ago over objections by the DUP, the largest union grouping, over Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trade rules.
Biden said his priority is to “make sure the Irish Accords and the Windsor Agreement survive, and keep the peace,” adding: “That’s the main thing.”
Sir Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern, who were prime ministers of the United Kingdom and taoiseach of Ireland, respectively, agreed that a new push was needed to try to end the impasse in the still deeply divided region. “I think if we do it the right way, the involvement of the American president will be positive,” Blair said.
But Blair and Ahern stressed that no change in the historic bargain could happen without the consent of Northern Ireland’s traditional national and trade union communities.
“We don’t have a CEO working and we want to,” Blair told BBC Radio 4. today program. The agreement should be revised over time. The only thing is if you’re going to review it, nothing that comes out of the review will work unless it brings communities together.”
He speaks to BBC Radio Northern Ireland Nolan show Ahern said the Good Friday Agreement is “always open to review” but cautioned: “They (the parties) have to agree to it, of course, and that’s not always easy.”
However, Blair noted: “One of the things I’ve learned about trade unionists is that if you try to pressure them into doing something they fundamentally disagree with, it’s usually futile pressure even if it comes from the United States.”
Sunak has urged the DUP to return to Stormont, but the party says further changes are needed to protect Northern Ireland’s place in the UK.
Chris Heaton-Harris, UK Secretary for Northern Ireland, said over the weekend that he was “quite sure” DUP can be brought along.
The White House said Biden, a proud Irish-American, would use his trip to tout Northern Ireland’s “enormous economic potential”.
After his brief stay in Northern Ireland, Biden will travel to Dublin for a longer visit to the Republic of Ireland.
Belfast streets are closed and there is a large police presence after the terror threat level in the area was raised to ‘severe’ last week.
The President will open the University of Ulster campus on Wednesday. Deirdre Heenan, professor of social policy at the university, said the £350m site in a formerly rundown area “is a reflection of our aspirations and our hope – what better place for it to come?”
The anniversary of the signing of the agreement on Monday was marred by masked youths throwing petrol bombs at a police van in Londonderry, also known as Derry, highlighting lingering tensions in areas of extreme social deprivation.
On Tuesday, police in Northern Ireland’s second largest city found four suspected pipe bombs from a graveyard in the city.