US President Joe Biden urged Northern Ireland politicians in Belfast to restore regional political institutions to protect the peace process and promote economic development.
“As a friend, I hope it is not too presumptuous to say that I believe the democratic institutions set out in the Good Friday Agreement remain central to the future of Northern Ireland,” he said in a speech at Ulster University.
Biden said that “an administration that works together to find ways to solve difficult problems will attract even more opportunity in this region.”
“For this reason, I hope that the assembly and the executive will be restored soon. It is his decision, not mine, but I hope it is so, ”he stressed.
The US president was speaking in the only public address of a less than 24-hour visit to Northern Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1998 peace deal, which the US helped broker.
Instead of trying to intercede directly to resolve the ongoing political crisis that has rocked the peace process and suspended home rule in Northern Ireland, Biden left messages for party leaders in the British province.
“In politics, no matter what divides us, if we look closely, there are always areas that will unite us if we look closely: defending peace and rejecting political violence must be one of those things,” he said.
Condemning the recent attack on a police inspector, condemned by most political leaders, Biden recalled that “in times when things seem fragile is when hope and hard work are most needed.”
Before speaking, Biden had a brief meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, but it was not disclosed whether he would hold personal talks with the leaders of Northern Ireland’s five main political parties.
Northern Ireland has been without a functioning government for more than a year, since the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which was part of the coalition led by the Executive, left in protest against the Brexit agreement.
The regional assembly is also suspended, which puts the peace agreement under pressure.
The departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union has left Northern Ireland in line with the single European market to avoid a physical border with the neighboring Republic of Ireland, a member of the EU, which generates friction in trade relations with the rest from United Kingdom.
After long negotiations and disagreements, the UK and the EU reached an agreement in February to resolve their trade differences, a deal welcomed by the US, which had urged London and Brussels to end the post-war dispute. Brexit.
But the DUP says the Windsor framework agreement does not go far enough and has refused to restore regional political institutions.
Although Biden has expressed that he wants the visit to Northern Ireland to contribute to “keeping the peace”, the president faces the mistrust of some unionists because of his Irish ancestry.
DUP MP Sammy Wilson told Talk TV that Biden “has a history of being pro-Republican, anti-union, anti-British.”
Even so, the arrival of Biden on Tuesday night, at 10:00 p.m., in the center of Belfast was accompanied by numerous Northern Irishmen, and this morning many people could be seen again with the expectation of seeing the president.
Biden continues his trip to the Republic of Ireland this Wednesday, for a three-day visit, which includes a speech in parliament, participation in a gala banquet and trips to two cities where he has family roots.
On Wednesday, he will visit County Louth, on the east coast of Ireland, to visit a cemetery, a castle, walk through the center of Dundalk and attend a community meeting.
The visit involved an important security operation, with a strong police presence in the streets surrounding the Presidential Hotel and the university.
Last month, UK intelligence raised Northern Ireland’s terror threat level, but Biden said even the heightened risk of an attack would not deter him from making the trip.
Biden last visited Ireland in 2016, when he was Vice President of the United States.
Source: TSF
