Officials were forced to defend President Joe Biden ‘s trip to Ireland on Wednesday, insisting it was work — not just pleasure — and fend off accusations that he is anti-British during his brief visit to Northern Ireland.
He was due to begin his day with a meeting with British Prime Rishi Sunak, before greeting five local party leaders followed by a speech at Ulster University.
But questions about his stance on Britain and Ireland, and who is paying for his son Hunter and sister Valerie to travel with him dominated a morning briefing.
Amanda Sloat, senior director for Europe at the National Security Council, was asked whether the famously Irish-American president was anti-British, as pro-London unionist politicians have claimed.
‘I think the track record of the president shows that he’s not anti British,’ she said.
Joe Biden was greeted by Rishi Sunak on the steps of Air Force One in Belfast on Tuesday night (pictured). They will hold talks on Wednesday morning
Biden was seen stepping off Air Force One onto the tarmac of RAF Aldergrove airbase in County Antrim on Tuesday
However, Biden has a history of making anti-English jokes and has frequently described his mother’s hostility to the U.K. and its crown.
Sloat reeled off examples of cooperation between the Biden administration and London.
‘The UK remains one of our strongest and closest allies,’ she said.
‘And it’s difficult, frankly, to think of an issue in the world that we are not closely cooperating with the British on and it’s why the president wanted to have the opportunity to engage with Prime Minister Sunak this morning to start his his day here in Belfast.’
The reason for Biden’s trip is to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Belfast Agreement which ended decades of sectarian and political violence known as ‘the Troubles.’
But he arrives at an awkward time with the province’s powersharing government suspended amid political wrangling.
The brevity of his stay in Northern Ireland has irritated local leaders, who wonder whether it is part of a strategy to minimize the chances of a gaffe.
And with just 17 hours in Belfast before heading off on a genealogical tour of Ireland, Sloat was asked whether the visit was really a taxpayer-funded family reunion.
‘I would, not surprisingly, dispute that characterization,’ she said frostily, before listing engagements with the British prime minister and official events to mark the Good Friday Belfast agreement.
In his speech at Ulster University, Biden will congratulate the province and its leaders on 25 years of peace with a speech at Ulster University.
But he is expected not to try to solve the region’s political deadlock.
The Northern Ireland government has not sat in almost a year, amid a wrangle over post-Brexit trade arrangements.
While the trade regulations have been reformed, the Democratic Unionist Party is refusing to go back to powersharing institutions.
They are on alert for any perceived slight.
Unionists view his Irish roots with suspicion and have made clear they will not tolerate his intervention in their local dispute.
Crowds gathered outside the Belfast city center hotel where Biden was staying on Wednesday
Police put up a ring of steel around the city center hotel where Biden stayed on Tuesday night
Biden is spotted in the Beast, his armored car, as he arrived in Belfast on Tuesday night
As Ian Paisley Jr., of the hardline Democratic Unionist Party, put it to TalkTV, ‘the poor fella is unfortunately quite gaffe prone,’ adding: ‘It would be like a Frenchman coming over to you and telling you what to do in England.’
The deadlock takes some of the shine off the visit which is designed to mark 25 years of the Good Friday Belfast Agreement, which ended decades of sectarian and violence known as ‘the Troubles.’
Sloat said she would not discuss what would come up in the meetings.
‘I think as a broad matter and as I indicated, the president obviously is supportive of the institutions,’ she told journalists in a morning briefing.
‘The president like everybody in Northern Ireland and the leader of the UK would like to see the institutions up and running.’
Biden arrived in Belfast amid a major policing operation, the biggest in the past 10 years in the province.
Some 300 officers have been drafted in from elsewhere in the U.K. to bolster numbers, with the whole cost coming to £7 million (about $8.7 million).
Biden’s maternal line emigrated from Ireland during the Great Famine. The Blewitts left Co. Mayo and settled in Scranton, PA, while the Finnegans left Co. Louth and came to New York
Biden is making his first visit to Northern Ireland and is expected to offer congratulations on the landmark and encouragement to the country’s leaders to work on economic and trade deals.
Unionists are already on alert for any perceived slight.
Biden has already been roundly condemned by the DUP for being ‘extremely partisan’ and ‘anti-British’, after repeatedly trumpeting his Irish roots.
Instead, the president will deliver at least two messages, according to White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
‘Congratulations on 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement, which has brought unprecedented peace and prosperity,” Kirby said. “And that kind of goes to the second goal, which is to talk about the importance of trying to work on trade and economic policies that benefit all communities, as well as the United States.’
Writing on Twitter earlier, Biden said: ’25 years ago, Northern Ireland’s leaders chose peace.
‘The Belfast/Good Friday agreement ended decades of violence and brought stability. I look forward to marking the anniversary in Belfast, underscoring the US commitment to preserving peace and encouraging prosperity.’
