U.S. President Joe Biden is set to meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and political leaders from Northern Ireland in Belfast today, Wednesday, as he begins a three-day Irish tour with a speech marking the 25th anniversary of the peace agreement in Northern Ireland, reached in 1998.
In remarks to reporters before departing Washington, Biden stated that his priority is "to help maintain peace while commemorating the anniversary of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which largely ended a 30-year conflict between British rule opponents, mostly Catholics, and its supporters, mostly Protestants."
He noted his intention to "ensure that the latest agreement between the European Union and Britain to ease trade barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK after Brexit remains in effect."
This agreement has so far failed to persuade the Democratic Unionist Party, the largest pro-British party in the region, to end its more than a year-long boycott of the devolved power-sharing government, a fundamental aspect of the peace agreement.
Biden, who takes pride in his Irish roots, will spend more than half a day in the British territory before traveling south to the Republic of Ireland for two and a half days, during which he will deliver speeches, hold meetings with officials, and meet with relatives.
The Democratic Unionist Party considered Biden's visit, the first by a sitting U.S. president to the region in 10 years, will not pressure him to end its ongoing protest against trade rules that treat Northern Ireland differently than the rest of the UK.
Biden is expected to meet with representatives from the party and the other four main political parties in Northern Ireland, though it is unclear if they will hold separate meetings.
After his speech at Ulster University and his meeting with Sunak, Biden will travel to County Louth, halfway between Belfast and Dublin, where his great-grandfather was born. He will also meet with relatives in County Mayo, western Ireland, on Friday.
Biden's great-grandfather, Owen Finnegan, a shoemaker from County Louth, emigrated to the United States in 1849, and his family followed in 1850.
