President of the United States Joe Biden has arrived in Northern Ireland to begin a four-day trip to the island of Ireland, where he will express his support for the nation’s peace and honor his Irish heritage.
Tuesday evening, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak welcomed the US president at Belfast International Airport. Economic updates and activities tied to Biden’s Irish and Catholic roots are likely to be part of the visit.
Before boarding Air Force One, Biden spoke to the media and expressed his desire to protect the Good Friday pact, which the two countries had signed this week and which marks the 25th anniversary of its signing, as well as to provide his support for Sunak’s post-Brexit arrangement for Northern Ireland.
Biden said, “Make sure the Irish accords and Windsor agreements stay in place. Keep the peace and that’s the main thing. It looks like we’re going to keep our fingers crossed.”
Lord-Lieutenant David McCorkell, the King’s personal representative for County Antrim, and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris also attended the reception.
Before the US president was taken away in an armored vehicle under a light snowfall, Biden and Sunak had a brief encounter.
Heavy security was in place on both sides of the border prior to the arrival of the US entourage, which included US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and recently appointed economic envoy to Northern Ireland Joseph Kennedy III.
On Tuesday, hundreds of US secret service and police cars blocked off the streets of central Belfast. As part of the £7 million security operation, which included involved 300 additional police officers from the British mainland, security staff raised manhole covers and checked them, while sniffer dogs examined the hotel rooms.
Police in Derry found four suspected pipe bombs in a cemetery after Republicans staged an Easter Monday memorial there that resulted in attacks on police with petrol bombs.
The discovery of pipe bombs, according to Bobby Singleton, an assistant chief constable with the Police Service of Northern Ireland, was a “sinister and worrying development.”
According to the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, this was a blatant sign that the goal was to hurt the police personnel. Afterward, the US president will deliver a speech at Ulster University in Belfast, his lone public appearance in Northern Ireland, before traveling south for three days of pilgrimage in Ireland. On Wednesday, Biden and Sunak will meet once again.
