President Biden will travel to Northern Ireland and Ireland next week to support Belfast’s economic plans and mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement that ended much of the violence known as “the Troubles,” the White House said Wednesday.
Mr. Biden will stop in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, on Monday and Tuesday to mark the 1998 agreement recognizing Northern Ireland as part of the U.K. while acknowledging that many people wish to be part of a united Ireland. It ushered in an era of greater cooperation between factions in Northern Ireland and government representation for nationalists and unionists.
The agreement has been caught up in negotiations on trade and other policies as part of the U.K.’s split from the European Union, since Northern Ireland is part of the U.K. but shares a land border with Ireland.
Mr. Biden will travel to Ireland on Wednesday and Thursday and stop in various parts of Ireland to discuss “our close cooperation on the full range of shared global challenges,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
The White House said Mr. Biden is expected to address the Irish legislature in Dublin on that Thursday and attend a festival in County Mayo, where he will also deliver remarks.
Ms. Jean-Pierre said Mr. Biden’s remarks will “celebrate the deep, historic ties that link our countries and people.”
Mr. Biden frequently talks about his Irish background, making it a special trip for the president.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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