Biden celebrates a Northern Ireland ‘made whole by peace’ as tensions persist

BELFAST, Northern Ireland — President Joe Biden on Wednesday tried to push Protestants and Catholics to resolve their differences and embrace the possibility of economic prosperity in a territory that had been “made whole by peace” since the Good Friday Agreement brought an end to decades of sectarian violence a quarter-century ago.

“Your history is our history, but more important, your future is America’s future,” Biden said during brief remarks at Ulster University, his only public appearance in Belfast before a departure to explore his Irish heritage in the Republic of Ireland.

He emphasized that Northern Ireland was poised to continue benefiting from economic transformation: “Peace and economic opportunity go together,” he said.

During his short stay in Belfast — a whirlwind stop before several days of Biden family-related excursions — the president and his advisers generally tried to avoid thorny questions surrounding politics in Northern Ireland, where the legislature has been deadlocked after the Democratic Unionist Party pulled out over post-Brexit trade concerns.

He told reporters earlier in the day that he was “going to listen” during brief exchanges with leaders of the region’s five main political parties. Biden met with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain before the speech.

But in his remarks at Ulster, Biden encouraged the government to overcome its divisions and work toward a power-sharing agreement “that reflects the people of Northern Ireland and is accountable to them,” adding, “That’s a judgment for you to make, not me, but I hope it happens.”

The president’s visit comes amid a flare-up of political violence that has Belfast’s police on heightened alert, but before the visit, John Kirby, a White House spokesperson, played down concerns about Biden’s safety while in Belfast.

“We don’t ever talk about security requirements of protecting the president,” Kirby said. “But the president is more than comfortable making this trip, and he’s very excited to do it.”

Commenting on the attempted murder in February of a Northern Ireland police detective, Biden urged political rivals in the region not to let the enemies of peace win.

“Northern Ireland will not go back, pray God,” the president said. “The attack was a hard reminder that there will always be those who seek to destroy it, rather than rebuild. But the lesson of the Good Friday Agreement is this: In times when things seem fragile, or easily broken, that is when hope and hard work are needed the most.”

His remarks recognized the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, a peace treaty that ended decades of bloody sectarian violence between Northern Irish factions. It was negotiated with the help of the United States, ushering in political power sharing and, for the most part, a cessation of political violence.

While Biden met briefly with the leaders of Northern Ireland’s five largest political parties during his Wednesday visit, including Jeffrey Donaldson, the leader of the Democratic Unionists, some unionists were critical of his approach to the visit.

Sammy Wilson, a member of the party and a lawmaker in the British Parliament, told TalkTV, that Biden was “extremely partisan” and had a record of being “pro-Republican,” “anti-unionist” and “anti-British.”

“I hope that he doesn’t come here and lecture us about democracy and getting the Stormont assembly going,” Wilson said, referring to the deadlocked legislature, adding, “He wouldn’t accept any interference in the affairs of America by outside bodies or outside governments, and I don’t think he should expect us to respond to that either.”

Donaldson, who leads the largest unionist party, had a more measured approach. “We welcome his visit here today,” he said of Biden, in remarks to the BBC. “It is good to see the president coming, and we hope to see investment into Northern Ireland flowing.”

He added that the visit “doesn’t change the political dynamic in Northern Ireland.”

For most of his time in Ireland this week, Biden will be engaged in a sentimental trip through the Irish countryside, where his ancestors lived before making their way across the Atlantic.

Biden is far from the first president to claim Irish ancestry, and he is certainly not alone among U.S. politicians who embrace the Emerald Isle. But he may be the most exuberant, having once adapted a line from James Joyce by saying that when he dies, “Ireland will be written on my soul.”

But Biden’s enthusiasm for Ireland has drawn questions about whether he is sympathetic to the nationalists, who seek a united Ireland, over the unionists, who want to remain part of the United Kingdom.

On Wednesday, reporters asked several times whether Biden “hates” the United Kingdom, given his past support for republicans in Northern Ireland. (As a senator in 1985, he spoke out against making it easier to extradite Irish Republican Army militants to Britain from the United States.)

“It’s simply not true,” said Amanda Sloat, the National Security Council’s senior director for Europe. “President Biden obviously is a very proud Irish American. He is proud of those Irish roots, but he’s also a strong supporter of our bilateral partnership with the U.K.”

After departing Belfast on Wednesday afternoon, Biden was to spend far less time on policy, although he will address the Irish parliament and host discussions with the country’s president and prime minister. White House officials said those discussions would touch on the “wide range of interests” between the two countries, including economic cooperation and the effort to help Ukraine fight Russian aggression.

But even White House officials have made little effort to describe Biden’s trip as a policy one. It is personal for the president, they said, and most of his time will be spent in the countryside. Biden was accompanied on the trip to Ireland by Valerie Biden Owens, his sister, and Hunter Biden, his son. Both traveled from the United States with the president on Air Force One. Jill Biden, the first lady, stayed behind.

During the visit, Biden planned to visit County Louth — home of the Finnegans and the Kearneys — and tour a shrine and a cathedral in County Mayo, where he will meet with the Blewitts, other distant relatives.

In Louth, Biden was joined on a tour of a castle by Rob Kearney, a retired professional rugby player who is his fifth cousin once removed. Both are related to John Finnegan and Mary Kearney, who were Biden’s great-great-great-grandparents.

In County Mayo on Friday, the president will tour the Family History Research Unit at the North Mayo Heritage and Genealogical Center, which has assembled a genealogical database with more than 1.2 million records to track the ancestry of people from the county.

For Biden, that history includes Edward Blewitt and Mary Mulderg (who was also known as Mary Reddington), his great-great-great-grandparents. The president is scheduled to visit St. Muredach’s Cathedral, which is constructed in part from thousands of bricks that, according to the White House, Blewitt sold in 1828. Blewitt used the proceeds from the sale to purchase tickets for himself and his family to sail to the United States on the SS Excelsior in 1851.

Biden’s visit is not his first personal trip to Ireland. In his final months as vice president, he spent six days traveling through the Irish countryside. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in law from Trinity College and delivered a speech at Dublin Castle.