US President Joe Biden lands in Belfast for four-day visit to Northern Ireland and ROI

dailyrecord.co.uk:

US president Joe Biden has landed in Belfast as part of a historic four-day trip to the island of Ireland.He was greeted by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after Air Force One landed at RAF Aldergrove on Tuesday night.

The two leaders met briefly before the president drove away in an armoured car amid a light scattering of snow.Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris was also present as Mr Biden alighted from the aircraft with US Special Envoy for Northern Ireland Joe Kennedy.The US president will carry out several other engagements across the week to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which largely brought an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland in 1998.He will meet the Prime Minister again on Wednesday for a bilateral meeting.

The leaders of Northern Ireland’s main political parties will also have the opportunity to engage with Mr Biden before he delivers an address at Ulster University’s new £350 million Belfast campus.The Stormont powersharing Assembly, which was established in the peace deal, is not currently operating due to a protest over post-Brexit trading arrangements by the DUP, the largest unionist party in Northern Ireland.However, the White House said there will not be a formal group meeting with the leaders.

Mr Sunak will not attend Mr Biden’s keynote speech, with Downing Street on Tuesday denying that the engagement between the pair would be “low-key”.Speaking to reporters before his departure, he said that his top priority was to “make sure the Irish accords and the Windsor Agreement stay in place, keep the peace”.His son Hunter Biden and sister Valerie Biden Owen are believed to be accompanying him for the trip.