BELFAST, Northern Ireland — President Joe Biden will look to navigate political turmoil that hangs over fragile peace in Northern Ireland as he celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in a speech from Belfast Wednesday.
Biden kicks off a four-day trip in the United Kingdom and Ireland with remarks commemorating a widely heralded accord that ended three decades of civil war in Northern Ireland known as “The Troubles.”
But the Northern Ireland government hasn’t operated for more than a year amid a political impasse between Northern Ireland’s two major parties: British unionists and Irish nationalists.
More: President Biden visits Northern Ireland amid thwarted IRA bomb plot and fragile peace
The Northern Ireland Assembly has stopped convening altogether. So instead of addressing a packed parliament building that overlooks Belfast, Biden will speak at Ulster University, a public university with no religious affiliation.
“Keep the peace,” Biden said before heading overseas. “That’s the main thing.”
What else in on Biden’s agenda?
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A guarded city: Amid a terrorism threat elevated to “severe” in Northern Ireland, much of Belfast’s city centre, which includes Biden’s hotel, is blocked off by police to pedestrians.
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Meeting British PM: Biden Wednesday will also meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who will be in Belfast for the ceremony.
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Northern Ireland parties: In addition, he will sit down with leaders of Northern Ireland’s political parties including the Democratic Unionist Party, which left the Northern Ireland government following Brexit.
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Exploring Irish roots: In the afternoon, Biden will depart for Dublin and spend part of his day in County Louth, Ireland, where he’s expected to trace his Irish family roots. There, he will also tour the 12th century Carlingsdale Castle.
Why isn’t Northern Ireland’s government operating?
The 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which the Clinton administration helped broker, established a devolved local government in Northern Ireland with power shared among Protestant loyalist parties that pushed to remain part of the U.K. and Irish Catholic nationalist parties that sought to unify with the Republic of Ireland.
But members of the Democratic Unionist Party – conservatives who backed the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU – pulled out of the shared-power agreement after Brexit.
They oppose an arrangement between the U.K. and EU that preserved the free flow of trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which share the only land border between the U.K. and the EU.
“The message really is congratulations on this anniversary,” White House spokesman John Kirby said. But he added: “We’d like to see the National Assembly returned, clearly”
Look for Biden to stay out of the larger political fight
On the streets of Belfast, residents seem generally excited about Biden’s visit – but several took note of his short stay.
Biden will spend less than one day in Northern Ireland before spending the bulk of his trip in the Republic Ireland.
That’s probably not by accident given the politically sensitive time in Northern Ireland.
Biden has drawn past criticism from British unionists. Even so, the president probably wants to avoid taking sides. And less time in Belfast means fewer chances to ruffle feathers.
Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden in Belfast: Political unrest marks Good Friday Agreement
