AMN
US President Joe Biden is set to arrive in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, tonight to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. He will be greeted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak when he arrives in Belfast. Mr Biden’s visit, which will be followed by a longer trip to the Republic of Ireland, comes on the heels of a new UK-EU deal covering post-Brexit trading rules for Northern Ireland, known as the Windsor framework.
The main event will be tomorrow when Mr Biden officially gives a key address at the new Ulster University campus in Belfast. White House spokesperson John Kirby said that Mr Biden is very much looking forward to going to Belfast despite recent security concerns. Kirby said that President Biden cares deeply about Northern Ireland and has a long history of supporting peace and prosperity there.
Mr Biden, who often speaks proudly of his Irish roots, will also spend time in the Irish Republic, where he will visit Dublin and his two ancestral homes. The Good Friday Agreement – signed on 10th April, 1998 – largely ended three decades of sectarian bloodshed that had convulsed Northern Ireland since the late 1960s. The island of Ireland comprises the Republic of Ireland, which is a sovereign country, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.