Biden urges Northern Ireland to 'seize opportunity' of new Brexit deal on visit to Belfast

US President Joe Biden called for political compromise in Northern Ireland on Wednesday during a visit to Belfast to promote the benefits of enduring peace and investment, but faced heated criticism from pro-UK hardliners.

President Joe Biden steps off Air Force One at Belfast International Airport in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Tuesday, 11 April, 2023. AP - Patrick Semansky

During an address at Ulster University he urged feuding political leaders to restore a power-sharing government which has been suspended since February last year, saying "I hope the [Northern Ireland] Executive and Assembly will soon be restored."

Biden also touted the "unlimited possibilities" for investment and growth offered in the UK-ruled territory, 25 years on from a historic peace deal brokered by the US government.

However, the US president warned that peace and stability must always be guarded, saying the 6 January 2021 riot at Congress in Washington had proved that in every generation "democracy needs champions".

Earlier, the US president met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who said the UK's relationship with the United States was "in great shape".

Biden also greeted local political leaders.

A pleasure to welcome @POTUS to Belfast, 25 years on from the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.

The Agreement has transformed Northern Ireland into the thriving place we see today.

My focus is on building a better future for people here and right across the United Kingdom. pic.twitter.com/4YySQg0m9V

— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) April 12, 2023

Unionists wary

The priority for Biden's trip – which includes three days in his ancestral homeland the Republic of Ireland – is "to keep the peace" in Northern Ireland.

But senior figures in the pro-UK Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) – which is under pressure to resume local power-sharing – were undiplomatic about the president's visit. 

 DUP member of the UK parliament in Westminster, Sammy Wilson branded Biden "anti-British", accusing America's second Catholic president of having "made his antipathy towards Protestants in particular very well known". 

• US President Biden visits Ireland to mark 25th anniversary of Belfast Agreement
• Belfast Agreement marks 25 years of troubled peace in Northern Ireland

Another DUP lawmaker, Nigel Dodds, suggested any mediation efforts would prove futile.

"Pressure from an American administration which is so transparently pro-nationalist constitutes no pressure on us at all," he told the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Meanwhile, DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson welcomed Biden's visit and his "measured" speech.

But he said the political dynamic remained unchanged and the British government needed to do more to protect Northern Ireland's place in the wider UK.

The woman in the picture with Adams and Biden was notorious for being wanted in the UK for IRA terrorist crimes. Biden is no impartial upholder of either justice or the political process in Northern Ireland pic.twitter.com/biPrwBGA3x

— Nigel Dodds (@NigelDoddsDUP) April 11, 2023

Post-Brexit impass

A devolved power-sharing government in Belfast is a key pillar of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, but it collapsed 14 months ago over the DUP's opposition to post-Brexit trade arrangements in Northern Ireland.

The party fears that keeping Northern Ireland in the European single market and customs union drives a wedge between the province and Great Britain 

Despite the UK and the European Union agreeing to overhaul trading rules earlier this year, the DUP is yet to back the new trading terms and allow the restoration of Belfast's Stormont legislature.

Nonetheless, Biden's visit marked the "tremendous progress" since the 1998 accords largely ended armed conflict between pro-Irish and pro-British militants.

Real pleasure to welcome ⁦@POTUS⁩ to Dublin today. Looking forward to a good discussion in Farmleigh tomorrow after his trip to County Louth pic.twitter.com/GlBRoq3aeX

— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) April 12, 2023

Less than 24 hours after arriving in Northern Ireland, Biden headed south to the Republic of Ireland, where he is due to visit the hometowns of his 19th-century ancestors.

On Wednesday afternoon 80-year-old president was greeted from Air Force One by the Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in driving rain at Dublin airport.