Joe Biden has paid tribute to the “pioneering” politicians who helped bring peace to Northern Ireland as he called for a restoration of power sharing at Stormont.
The US president is on a four-day visit to the island of Ireland to mark 25 years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
He spoke about his own family’s Irish roots and said the future of Northern Ireland was “America’s future” during a keynote speech at Ulster University on Wednesday.
“I believe the democratic institution established in the Good Friday Agreement remain critical to the future of Northern Ireland,” he said.
He added that “an effective, devolved government that reflects the people and is accountable to them” would help draw “even greater opportunity” to the region.
“I hope the assembly and the executive will soon be restored,” he said. “That’s a judgment for you to make, not me. I hope it happens.”
Mr Biden celebrated the “pioneering women who said ‘enough’ and demanded change”, political leaders and the “determined efforts” of former US senator George Mitchell in bringing about the landmark peace deal in 1998.
“Every person killed in the Troubles left an empty chair at the dining room table, a hole in the heart that was never filled for the ones they lost,” he said.
“Peace was not inevitable, we can’t ever forget that.”
The peace deal created Stormont’s power sharing institutions. But the DUP is currently blocking those in protest at Brexit trade barriers between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The party says the framework does not go far enough in addressing its concerns over sovereignty.
Mr Biden, who earlier in the day met with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, insisted that a stable devolved government could deliver an economic windfall for the region.
He said: “Your history is our history, but even more important your future is America’s future.
“Today’s Belfast is the beating heart of Northern Ireland and is poised to drive unprecedented economic opportunity and investment, from communities across the UK, across Ireland, across the United States.
“The simple truth is that peace and economic opportunity go together.
“The 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland’s gross domestic product has literally doubled.”
The president said that figure would only improve if “things continue to move in the right direction”.
Mr Biden added: “There are scores of major American corporations wanting to come here, wanting to invest.”
