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US President Joe Biden was welcomed to Northern Ireland by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday as he flew in for a brief visit to mark the 25th anniversary of a peace deal that largely ended 30 years of bloodshed.
Biden, who is fiercely proud of his Irish heritage, will spend just over half a day in the British-run region before travelling to the Republic of Ireland for almost three days of meetings with officials and distant relatives.
Biden, who was met by Sunak on the runway at a windy Belfast International Airport, arrives at a delicate time in Northern Ireland and will need to tread carefully as the largest pro-British party continues to boycott the devolved power-sharing government, a key part of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
The president spoke for a few minutes to officials on the tarmac, flanked by Joseph Kennedy III, of the storied Irish American political family, whom he appointed as the US special envoy to Northern Ireland for economic affairs in December.
Biden and Sunak will hold a meeting early on Wednesday, and Biden will also engage with each of the leaders of Northern Ireland’s five main political parties ahead of his speech at a Belfast university.
Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One, Biden said supporting the recent Windsor Framework deal agreed by the European Union and Britain to ease post-Brexit trade barriers in Northern Ireland was one of his top priorities.
