The first full day of US President Joe Biden’s visit to the island of Ireland on Wednesday is marked by the Good Friday Agreement concluded 25 years ago. His priority is to keep the peace in the former civil war region, said the US President, who arrived in Northern Ireland’s capital Belfast last night for the anniversary celebrations. The 80-year-old, who is proud of his Irish heritage, will remain on the Emerald Isle until Friday.
With a speech at the new campus of Ulster University in Belfast this afternoon, the democratic politician wants to address the people of Northern Ireland. The communications director of the US government’s National Security Council, John Kirby, said in advance that Biden wanted to congratulate on the one hand the success of the 1998 peace agreement, which brought “unprecedented peace and prosperity”. On the other hand, Biden wants to show the possibilities of economic cooperation.
Bill Clinton is also expected
The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 ended decades of bloody conflict between majority Catholic supporters of unification of the two parts of Ireland and predominantly Protestant supporters of Northern Ireland’s union with Britain. The USA had played an important mediating role in bringing about the historic peace agreement. Former President Bill Clinton is expected to attend celebrations in Belfast next week.
But despite all the progress, the region still grapples with tensions. In Belfast and Londonderry, which Catholics only call Derry, Catholics and Protestants still live in different parts of the city – separated by meter-high walls and fences, so-called “peace walls”. Even kindergartens and schools are separated by denomination. Shortly before the Biden visit, there were isolated riots in which a police car was set on fire. Several pipe bombs were later discovered by the police in the city.
Politically paralyzed
The province has also been suffering from political paralysis for more than a year over the dispute over Brexit rules for Northern Ireland. The Windsor agreement concluded by London and Brussels at the end of February to settle the dispute changed nothing. The Protestant Unionist party DUP is stubborn and demands further concessions. According to the Good Friday Agreement, the two largest parties from both denominational camps must agree on forming a government in Northern Ireland, otherwise the self-government will remain unable to act. Not even the regional parliament can meet.
Kirby said on board Air Force One, the presidential plane, that Biden was committed to getting Northern Ireland MPs to go to work. However, according to the BBC, the US President declined an invitation to give his speech in the Stormont parliament building due to the non-functioning institutions. In any case, hardly anyone believes that the US President can bring about an immediate breakthrough. After all, in addition to a meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Belfast, talks are also planned there with the heads of the important parties in Northern Ireland.
However, there are great expectations with regard to an economic boost for the region from the Biden visit. The special envoy for economic issues in Northern Ireland, Joe Kennedy III, a great-nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, is traveling with the US President’s retinue.
Biden visits home of his ancestors
Putting pressure on the DUP will probably serve no purpose, former Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern told the BBC yesterday. Nevertheless, Biden could exert a positive influence on Northern Ireland politicians. “What the American President can say is that he supports further economic investments.” The political sociologist Katy Hayward from Queen’s University in Belfast sees it similarly: In an interview with the German Press Agency, she said that the Biden visit was above all an economic blessing for the region.
After his visit to Belfast, Biden wants to travel to the Republic of Ireland. He wants to make several stops there. In addition to political talks in the Irish capital Dublin, the Democrat is planning visits to various places in the country where his ancestors come from. According to the White House, Biden will be accompanied on the trip by his son Hunter and sister Valerie.
