US President Joe Biden on Thursday urged UK to take step to protect peace in Northen Ireland on his visit to Belfast, reports AFP.
Gearing up for a potential election rematch against Donald Trump, the Irish-American Democrat dwelt on the success of Irish emigres in carving out a new life far from home.
The United States and Ireland were joined in "not just the hope but the conviction that better days lie ahead", he said in a speech to the Irish parliament, after his motorcade was cheered by large crowds in Dublin.
Seeming to draw a firm contrast to some US Republicans' dystopian vision for the future of America, Biden added: "We have the power to build a better future."
But, following a testy visit to Belfast prior to Dublin, Biden also issued a pointed warning that the UK "should be working closer with Ireland" to protect a 25-year-old peace deal in Northern Ireland.
"Political violence must never again be allowed to take hold in this island," he said to warm applause from the Irish audience, which included veteran nationalist leader Gerry Adams.
Adams, still a hate figure for many pro-UK unionists in Northern Ireland, hugged Biden after the speech, likely adding fuel to the unionists' fire after their former leader Arlene Foster said that Biden "hates the United Kingdom".
The White House pushed back strongly at that, and Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Leo Varadkar said after meeting Biden in Dublin that the president was "keen to be supportive in any way that he can" to uphold the peace in Northern Ireland.
Biden backed efforts by the UK and Irish governments to end a unionist boycott of the devolved Belfast legislature, "but doesn't want to be overbearing or interfering either", Varadkar said.
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
