President Joe Biden’s trip to Northern Ireland this week has been beset by security concerns amid the re-heightening of terrorism threat levels and news that authorities had uncovered a bomb plot aimed at upending the visit.
The president’s trip is centered on marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, the landmark peace accord ending decades of bloodshed in Northern Ireland. While Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic now share a demilitarized border, Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom, and Ireland is part of the European Union. The situation has become precarious in recent years, however, as post-Brexit matters have caused parliamentary gridlock.
BIDEN TO COMMEMORATE ANNIVERSARY OF NORTHERN IRELAND PEACE AGREEMENT NEXT WEEK
Biden, who has long boasted of his Irish heritage, will first arrive in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, on Tuesday. He’ll spend a day and a half there but will only take part in one public event, a speaking engagement at Ulster University celebrating the opening of its new Belfast campus. The president will be joined in Northern Ireland by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Joe Kennedy III, who serves as the U.S. special envoy for Northern Ireland.
On Wednesday, he’ll meet with local political parties and address business leaders before traveling to the Irish Republic that afternoon. He’ll stay there for three days, where he has a packed schedule planned.
Biden’s Northern Ireland visit will notably not include a trip to Stormont, the north’s inactive parliament that has been gridlocked for more than a year over post-Brexit political turmoil. The president was invited to speak before the body, but the White House turned it down, citing logistical matters.
In a sign of preparation being made for Biden’s visit, a fleet of security vehicles from the president’s motorcade was flown into the Belfast International Airport by the U.S. Air Force this past Wednesday. Secret Service agents have also been preparing for the president’s arrival.
The visit will require a security operation not seen in the north since the Group of Eight’s summit was held there in 2013, Police Service of Northern Ireland Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd told reporters Thursday.
Despite the security preparations, Biden’s decision to spend less time in Northern Ireland is not entirely surprising, given the threats.
A Belfast Telegraph report published Sunday revealed the PSNI had carried out searches for bomb parts in the city of Londonderry last weekend over fears of an attack by a dissident republican group. The report indicated that “the belief is that the New IRA was planning some sort of attack to coincide with Biden’s visit,” possibly a mortar attack.
Republicans in Northern Ireland support independence from the U.K., while loyalists want the area to remain a part of the U.K.
Officials raised the terror threat level from “substantial” to “severe” late last month as the 25th anniversary approached. Asked about this immediately after it happened, Biden said he would not be deterred from traveling to Northern Ireland, telling reporters, “No, they can’t keep me out.”
The White House pointed out that same day that the threat level delegation had been at “severe” for the last 12 years, only being downgraded for a brief period starting in 2022.
A Secret Service spokesperson did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment on security preparations.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland Assembly’s secretary of state and the de facto leader of the north, put a positive spin on Biden’s short visit when asked about it this week.
“I think you should welcome President Biden and thank him for coming, I’m quite sure he’s got other important things on his schedule that he also needs to deal with, and I believe part of his trip is actually to go and see family and relatives in Ireland,” he said. “It is absolutely not a snub. I’m delighted he’s coming to Northern Ireland, and I’m absolutely sure he’ll be pleased with the progress he will see Northern Ireland’s made over the last 25 years.”
