Key takeaways:
- President Joe Biden is set to speak at a new university campus in Northern Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
- The Good Friday Agreement was a 1998 peace deal brokered by the United States that ended decades of violence between Nationalists and Unionists in Northern Ireland.
- Biden’s visit is brief, lasting only 15 hours, but his goal is clear: to ensure the US-brokered accord remains in place and to call for continued peace.
President Joe Biden is set to speak at a new university campus in Northern Ireland on Wednesday to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. The event was reportedly downgraded from a formal bilateral to an informal chat over coffee, but Downing Street denied it was “low-key.”
Biden arrived in Northern Ireland on Tuesday and was greeted by U.K Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The White House has denied Biden is “anti-British” as he prepares for talks with Sunak.
The Good Friday Agreement was a 1998 peace deal brokered by the United States that ended decades of violence between Nationalists and Unionists in Northern Ireland. While the peace is fragile and the politics are broken, Biden’s speech to students is as much about the future of the region as its bloody past.
Biden’s visit is brief, lasting only 15 hours, but his goal is clear: to ensure the US-brokered accord remains in place. The president has said “keep the peace, that’s the main thing.”
The visit comes at a time of tension between the U.K and the European Union over a Brexit trade dispute, which has resulted in the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Despite the political turmoil, Biden’s speech is a reminder of the progress made in Northern Ireland since the Good Friday Agreement and a call for continued peace.
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