Joe Biden says visit to Ireland was to ensure UK wouldn’t ‘mess around’ with Good Friday Agreement
Joe Biden risks new fury from unionists as he says he visited Ireland to make sure Rishi Sunak doesn’t ‘fuck’ the Good Friday Agreement
Joe Biden has drawn new anger from unionists after saying he visited Ireland to prevent Rishi Sunak from ‘messing around’ with the Good Friday Agreement.
The US president – who was heavily criticized for his partisan attitude during his trip – laid out his thoughts at a Democrat event in New York yesterday.
“I have to go back to Ireland for the, for the, Irish accords, to make sure they weren’t, that the British weren’t messing around and that Northern Ireland wasn’t living up to their commitments,” he said.
Mr Biden was labeled ‘anti-British’ after only a fleeting visit to Northern Ireland last month to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, ahead of an extensive tour of the Republic – where he often brags about his roots.
Joe Biden has drawn new fury from unionists after saying he visited Ireland to prevent Rishi Sunak from ‘messing about’ over the Good Friday Agreement
The US president was widely criticized for his partisan attitude during his trip
He also came under fire for saying during a speech that a distant relative of a rugby star was ‘beating up the Black and Tans’.
That was a British auxiliary police force in the 1920s hated by the IRA – though the White House insisted he was just mixing them up with the New Zealand All Blacks team.
Biden also posed for a selfie with Gerry Adams and chided the UK for not working more closely with Ireland on Brexit.
His ‘Beast’ limousine flew the Irish flag in Dublin, but not in the Union Jack in Belfast.
Before leaving for Belfast, Biden stressed that keeping the peace in Northern Ireland was his priority.
Former DUP leader Baroness Foster was among those who questioned Mr Biden’s impartiality in tensions between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
US officials denied that Biden — who has dashed hopes of a transatlantic trade deal — is “anti-British.”
Cynics have suggested that Mr Biden’s many enthusiastic references to his Irish heritage are related to the impending US election campaign.
Biden and Sunak drank tea during his flying visit to Northern Ireland last month
Asked about the US President’s comment, the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: “You know, of course, that the Windsor Framework was a culmination of substantive work between the UK and the EU, and that the UK’s priority has always been to protect of Good Friday. Agreement.
“We’ve been consistent on that point all along and we’re pleased to have been able to reach an agreement between the UK and the EU that works for the people of Northern Ireland and for the whole of the UK.”