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Post by Admin on Apr 11, 2023 21:24:59 GMT
The US President Joe Biden has arrived on a visit to Northern Ireland.
He was greeted as he exited the plane at Belfast International Airport by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Mr Biden is in Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
The 1998 peace deal brought an end to the Troubles - the decades-long violent conflict in Northern Ireland in which thousands of people were killed.
A huge security operation was put in place, with many city centre streets closed ahead of the visit.
While Mr Biden has praised what politicians did to secure peace in 1998, his visit is overshadowed by the fact that Northern Ireland's power-sharing government is not functioning.
Clive Myrie presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Ireland correspondent Emma Vardy and political editor Chris Mason.
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Post by Admin on Apr 12, 2023 19:14:54 GMT
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Post by Admin on Apr 12, 2023 21:55:08 GMT
During his trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland, in a carefully worded speech at Ulster University, the US president urged a return to power sharing in Stormont.
He said: "I hope it's not too presumptuous for me to say that I believe democratic institutions established through the Good Friday Agreement remain critical to the future of Northern Ireland."
However, the leader of the DUP, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, has insisted the visit by Joe Biden "does not change the political dynamic" in Northern Ireland.
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Post by Admin on Apr 13, 2023 17:10:05 GMT
US President Joe Biden is delivering remarks to the Houses of the Oireachtas during his visit to Ireland.
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Post by Admin on Apr 13, 2023 21:04:01 GMT
In the twenty five years since the Good Friday Agreement, a roll call of US Presidents has visited Northern Ireland, and yesterday Joe Biden, no stranger to the island, was in Belfast for just a few hours before heading south for three days.
He tried to tempt the DUP, who have boycotted the Assembly and the Executive for more than a year, to return to power sharing, with the promise of the tripling of US investment in Northern Ireland to six billion dollars. The DUP say they will not return to Stormont until Rishi Sunak takes steps to remove the remaining Brexit trade barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, and yesterday in typically blunt fashion, Sammy Wilson the DUP whip, said "we will not be bought".
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