President Joe Biden made it clear on Wednesday that he had no intention of getting involved in Northern Ireland’s feverish politics, insisting that his role was to listen during his brief visit to Belfast.
His trip is intended to mark 25 years of peace in the province since the signing of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement.
But local political parties are deadlocked over a return to their power-sharing government, and pro-London union figures are alert to any perceived disdain from Biden, who is ferociously proud of his Irish roots.
On Wednesday, the president was asked what he planned to say to the political parties when he met with their leaders later in the day.
“I’m going to listen,” he said during a meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
President Joe Biden met Rishi Sunak on Wednesday morning during his 17-hour visit to Belfast and made it clear he would not get involved in local political disputes
Biden disembarked Air Force One on the apron at RAF Aldergrove Airbase in County Antrim on Tuesday
Hardline unionists had previously warned him to stay out of Northern Ireland politics, saying it would be a bit like a Frenchman showing up in London lecturing British leaders on how to run their affairs.
Despite all the turmoil, Biden looked relaxed during the meeting with Sunak.
“Great view there,” he remarked from the top floor of his downtown hotel.
The reason for Biden’s trip is to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of sectarian and political violence known as “the Troubles.”
But he arrives at an awkward time as the province’s power-sharing government has been suspended amid political bickering.
Hardline union members are boycotting the institution, meaning she can’t sit.
White House officials have avoided any suggestion that Biden will try to pressure the holdouts.
And unionists are quick to accuse Biden of anti-British sentiment.
As Ian Paisley Jr., of the hardline Democratic Unionist Party, put it on TalkTV, “the poor chap is unfortunately quite prone to blunders,” adding, “It would be like a Frenchman coming up to you and telling you what you England must do. .’
Officials were also forced to defend President Joe Biden’s trip to Ireland on Wednesday, insisting it was work – not just fun – and deflecting accusations that he is anti-British during his brief visit to Northern Ireland.
He would start his day with a meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak before greeting five local party leaders followed by a speech at Ulster University.
But questions about his stance on Britain and Ireland, and who will pay for his son Hunter and sister Valerie to travel with him, dominated a morning briefing.
Amanda Sloat, senior director for Europe at the National Security Council, was asked if the famed Irish-American president was anti-British, as pro-London unionist politicians claimed.
“I think the president’s record shows he is not anti-British,” she said.
However, Biden has a history of making anti-English jokes and has often described his mother’s animosity towards the UK and its crown.
Sloat cited examples of cooperation between the Biden administration and London.
“The UK remains one of our strongest and closest allies,” she said.
And frankly it’s hard to think of an issue in the world that we don’t work closely with the British on and so this morning the president wanted the opportunity to talk to Prime Minister Sunak to start his day in this . Belfast.’
A crowd gathered outside the Belfast city center hotel where Biden was staying on Wednesday
Police placed a ring of steel around the city center hotel where Biden was staying Tuesday night
Biden is spotted in The Beast, his armored car, as he arrived in Belfast on Tuesday evening
And with just 17 hours in Belfast before departing on a genealogical tour of Ireland, Sloat was asked if the visit was really a taxpayer-funded family reunion.
“I would, not surprisingly, challenge that characterization,” she said icily, before listing appointments with the British Prime Minister and official events to mark the Good Friday-Belfast Agreement.
In his speech at Ulster University, Biden will congratulate the province and its leaders on 25 years of peace with a speech at Ulster University.
Sloat said she would not discuss what would come up in the meetings.
“I think in a broad sense and as I said, the president clearly supports the institutions,” she told reporters during a morning briefing.
“The president, like everyone else in Northern Ireland and the leader of the UK, is eager to see the institutions work.”
Biden arrived in Belfast in a major police operation, the largest in the province in the past 10 years.
Some 300 officers have been called up from elsewhere in the UK to bolster the numbers, at a total cost of £7 million (approximately $8.7 million).
His main official assignment on Wednesday is a speech at Ulster University.
Biden’s maternal line emigrated from Ireland during the Great Famine. The Blewitts left Co. Mayo and settled in Scranton, PA, while the Finnegans Co. left Louth and came to New York
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the president will issue at least two messages.
“Congratulations on 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement, which has brought unprecedented peace and prosperity,” Kirby said. And that goes to the second goal, which is to talk about the importance of trying to work on trade and economic policy. that benefit all communities, as well as the United States.”
Biden previously wrote on Twitter: “25 years ago Northern Ireland’s leaders chose peace.
The Belfast-Good Friday deal ended decades of violence and brought stability. I look forward to celebrating the anniversary in Belfast and underlining the US’s commitment to keeping the peace and promoting prosperity.”