Biden to mark 25th anniversary of Good Friday Agreement in Belfast
Good Tuesday #GoodTuesday
A mural painted on one of Belfast’s “peace walls” ahead of the anniversary. Photo: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
Northern Ireland remains at peace 25 years on from the Good Friday agreement, but sectarian divides are rearing their heads.
The big picture: President Biden will visit Belfast Tuesday to mark the anniversary of an agreement that is heralded as a triumph of peacemaking and power-sharing. However, the Northern Ireland Assembly created under the accords has not convened since February 2022.
The backstory: The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) walked out of Stormont to protest the Northern Ireland Protocol of then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. The deal placed a de facto trade border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K., rather than between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which would have angered republicans.
Yes, but: Belfast is a growing tourism and business hub. Biden and Sunak will gather there on Tuesday without the urgent security concerns that would have loomed over such a gathering decades ago.
What’s next: After Belfast, Biden will spend three days in the Republic of Ireland, celebrating U.S.-Ireland ties and his own Irish heritage.