Biden Visits Ireland to Celebrate Agreement Day on Good Friday WGN Radio 720

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will next week mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Accords, the US-brokered agreement that helped end decades of deadly sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. I plan to visit the UK and Ireland in

Mr Biden will make his first visit to Belfast, Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, on April 11-12, marking progress since the Good Friday deal was signed with Belfast a quarter century ago. We underscore the United States’ readiness to support Northern Ireland’s economic potential. the White House said.

Biden will then spend April 12-14 in the Republic of Ireland, performing public duties in Dublin, County Louth and County Mayo, and delivering speeches celebrating the “deep and historic bond” between the United States and Ireland, according to the White House. The White House said it will. .

Signed on 10 April 1998 (Good Friday), this landmark agreement ends 30 years of sectarian conflict over whether Northern Ireland should unite with Ireland or remain in the UK. was helpful.

The anniversary is celebrated to celebrate lasting peace, but there are concerns about deep-seated divisions and political instability. Last month, Britain’s intelligence services upgraded Northern Ireland’s terrorist threat level from ‘serious’ to ‘severe’.

Asked if the rising threat level of terrorism would affect his plans to visit, Biden said he was proud of his Irish heritage and had long wanted to visit Ireland.

“No, they can’t keep me out,” he said last month.

The deal is under increasing stress following the UK’s exit from the European Union. A recent agreement between the UK and her EU, known as the Windsor Framework, addresses some of the issues that have arisen regarding commerce and goods crossing the Irish Sea from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

While Biden, who often quotes Irish poets, recently hailed the Windsor Framework as a key step in keeping the peace deal, Northern Ireland’s political leaders are calling for change.

Speaking at a luncheon on Capitol Hill on St Patrick’s Day, Mr Biden said the framework was “a very important step and an opportunity for all people in Northern Ireland to reach their full potential”. It will help ensure that the

Biden has hosted Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in the Oval Office and at a holiday White House reception, a tradition cut short by the coronavirus pandemic in recent years.

Varadkar promised to have a good time when Biden visited.

“I promise to roll the red carpet. It will be a visit like no other,” Mr. Varadkar told Mr. Biden in the Oval Office. “Everyone is already excited. We will have a large crowd wanting to meet you.”

The last US president to visit Belfast was Barack Obama in 2013.