President Biden will travel to the United Kingdom and Ireland next week, where he will mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday accord that ended decades of sectarian violence known as “The Troubles” and visit his ancestral homeland, the White House said on Thursday.
Biden will first visit Belfast, Northern Ireland, April 11 and 12 to commemorate the “tremendous progress” made since the signing of the agreement in 1998 and “to underscore the readiness of the United States to support Northern Ireland’s vast economic potential to the benefit of all communities,” a statement from press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
The president will then travel to the Republic of Ireland April 12 to 14, making stops in Dublin, County Louth, and County Mayo where he will speak about the “deep, historic ties that link our countries and people,” the statement said.
Biden traces his ancestry back to County Louth and County Mayo.
The US-brokered Northern Ireland peace accord was signed on Good Friday, April 10, 1998, ending decades of bloodshed between Catholic and Protestant paramilitary groups.
Though they share a border, the six counties that make up Northern Ireland are part of the UK, while Ireland is part of the European Union.
President Biden will first travel to Belfast, Northern Ireland and then to the Republic of Ireland. ZUMAPRESS.comThe Good Friday deal has been tested post-Brexit.
The British government and the European Union reached a separate agreement — the Windsor Framework — in February to ease post-Brexit trade rules between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, but some issues remain outstanding.
“Joe Biden has always been a friend of Ireland. Over many decades, and to this day, he has supported the cause of peace. He stood with us as we navigated the difficult consequences of Brexit,” Ireland Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said in a statement on Thursday.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar gifts a bouquet of Shamrocks to President Biden during a St. Patrick’s Day reception. Getty Images
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar meets with President Biden in the Oval Office. APVaradkar, referencing the Good Friday accord, said Biden assured him during his St. Patrick’s Day visit to the White House last month that “we should be looking ahead, not backwards.”
“We need to continue working together as true partners to fulfill the potential of all the people who call this island their home.”
With Post wires
