Irish parliament’s no guns policy means Secret Service will watch Biden through an OPEN DOOR
Ireland’s parliament’s gun ban policy means the Secret Service will have to watch Biden through an OPEN DOOR when he addresses politicians during his visit next week
- Biden will address the Houses of the Oireachtas on Thursday
- His armed officers are not allowed to enter the room, but have to hang outside
- Next week he will pay a four-day visit to the land of his ancestors
President Joe Biden’s armed intelligence service will have to stay outside the chamber of Ireland’s parliament when he addresses lawmakers following a standoff between US officials and the Irish hosts.
Biden will visit Ireland next week and will address the Houses of the Oireachtas, the upper and lower chambers of the Irish parliament, on Thursday.
U.S. officials wanted to have armed officers in the room, but were told no.
Instead, a compromise was reached Irish independentwith armed Secret Service agents outside the room itself, hovering at open doors about six feet from where Biden will deliver his address.
“They’ll be watching him through the door that’s ajar and be able to respond in two seconds — not that anything’s going to happen,” a senior Oireachtas source told the newspaper.
“The policy is that no guns are allowed in the room. That’s a historic Civil War hangover.”
The country was divided in the early 1920s by a bitter war over whether or not to accept a treaty with London that allowed Ireland only limited self-government and ceded six northern counties to the United Kingdom.
Weapons are part of the usual security measures for politicians in the Parliament House of Leinster House, but are not allowed in the Chamber.
US Presidents John F Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton have all addressed the House of Representatives.
Excitement in Ireland reached a fever pitch on Wednesday as the White House finally confirmed Biden’s visit.
He will arrive in Belfast on Tuesday and travel to Dublin the following day. He leaves on Friday.
Making the announcement, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: “He will discuss our close collaboration across the full range of shared global challenges.
“He will also make several appearances, including in Dublin, County Louth and County Mayo, where he will deliver a speech celebrating the deep, historic ties that bind our countries and people together.”
Biden arrived in County Mayo in 2016 on his last official visit to Ireland. The then Vice President spent six days in the country visiting Dublin, Mayo and Louth
Joe Blewitt and his wife Deirdre drink champagne under a mural of their third cousin Joe Biden as locals celebrate Biden’s election in the 2020 County Mayo town of Ballina
Local media reported that the highlight is expected to be a speech to be delivered at a venue outside St. Muredach’s Cathedral in Ballina, Co Mayo.
It was from Ballina that Biden’s maternal great-great-great-grandfather, Edward Blewitt, left for America after the potato famine of the 1840s, settling in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Biden often riffs on his Irish heritage and had made it known that he wanted to visit as president.
However, bickering between the United Kingdom and the European Union over Northern Ireland’s trading status caused a diplomatic deadlock that would have made a high-profile presidential visit politically problematic.
That obstacle was removed last month with a deal for a new mechanism for handling goods shipped from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland.
It means Biden can now visit both the North and South to celebrate the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
Biden last visited Ireland in an official capacity in 2016 as vice president. That visit included stops in Dublin, Mayo and Louth.
And he has repeatedly told Irish politicians and relatives that he will return as president.
Shortly after taking office, Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin said, “When I invited President Biden to Ireland, he just said, ‘Try to keep me out of it.’ So he won’t lack enthusiasm.’