UK should be working closer with Dublin to keep peace in Northern Ireland: Biden

By Mehmet Solmaz

BIRMINGHAM, England (AA) - US President Joe Biden addressed Ireland’s parliament Thursday, where he praised the impact of the Good Friday Agreement amid its 25th anniversary and called on London and Dublin to work closer to maintain peace in Northern Ireland.

Following his meeting with his Irish counterpart Michael Higgins, Biden addressed the Irish chamber, where ambassadors of the UK and Ukraine were also present.

“The United Kingdom should be working closer with Ireland. Political violence can never be allowed to take hold again in this island,” he said.

The American president promised that the US will be Ireland’s closest partner and asked the two sides of the divided island to remain committed to the Good Friday Agreement.

“Peace is precious. It still needs its champions. It still needs to be nurtured. The Good Friday Agreement didn't just change lives for the better in Northern Ireland. It had significant positive impacts across the Republic of Ireland as well.”

Biden said some companies that want to invest in Northern Ireland are hesitant due to the absence of operational political institutions, referring to the power-sharing boycott of unionists.

During his visit to Northern Ireland, he has called for a return to power sharing, a political design that was established as a result of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the leader of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), said Biden's visit will not change his party's more than year-long boycott of the region's power-sharing government.

"It doesn't change the political dynamic in Northern Ireland. We know what needs to happen," Donaldson told reporters.

The chamber cannot function with the boycott of the DUP. The unionist party said post-Brexit trade rules mean Northern Ireland is treated differently to the rest of the UK and that they cannot tolerate such policies.

"We believe the (British) government needs to go further in terms of protecting Northern Ireland's place within the United Kingdom and our ability to trade within the UK internal market. That's what needs to happen to enable us to move towards the restoration of the political institutions,” Donaldson said, adding his party will submit a proposal to the British government on finding a solution to the political deadlock.

The DUP is a loyalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest party in the Stormont (Northern Ireland Assembly) and the fifth largest in the UK House of Commons. The DUP sees itself as the protector of Britishness and Protestant culture against Irish nationalism and republicanism on the island.