Joe Biden has praised Rishi Sunak’s post-Brexit deal with the EU and said it could bring “significant” US investment into Northern Ireland.
The US president backed the Windsor framework compromise aimed at ending the protocol row, as he shared his hopes that Northern Irish parties will return to powersharing arrangements “soon”.
Mr Biden was careful not to mention the DUP’s refusal to return to Stormont during his speech in Belfast on Wednesday – but insisted that getting stable, devolved government up and running could deliver an economic windfall for the region.
In a keynote address at Ulster University marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, Mr Biden said the protocol deal opposed by the DUP was an “essential step” in making sure peace and progress were “preserved and strengthened”.
The president said: “As a friend, I hope it’s not too presumptuous for me to say that I believe the democratic institutions established in the Good Friday Agreement remain critical for the future of Northern Ireland.”
“It’s a decision for you to make – not for me to make, but it seems to me they are related. An effective devolved government … a government that works to find ways through hard problems together, is going to draw even greater opportunity in this region,” he told the Belfast audience.
Mr Biden added: “So, I hope the assembly and the executive will soon be restored. That’s a judgement for you to make, not me, but I hope it happens, along with the institutions that facilitate north-south and east-west relations, all of which are vital pieces of the Good Friday Agreement.”
DUP politicians had attacked Mr Biden – a Catholic who had played up his Irish roots – as a pro-Irish Republican prior to his speech, as they again resisted pressure to resume powersharing at Stormont.
Former party leader Dame Arlene Foster had claimed “Joe Biden hates the UK”, while DUP MP Sammy Wilson said the president was “anti-British” and had shown “antipathy towards Protestants”.
The DUP are continuing to refuse to go into the assembly until their concerns around the protocol are dealt with by the UK government, having voted against Mr Sunak’s deal with the EU in parliament last month.
Mr Biden – warned by former prime minister Tony Blair not to “pressurise” the unionists into ending their boycott of Stormont over their opposition to the post-Brexit protocol arrangements – chose his words carefully.
He said the Windsor framework agreed by Mr Sunak and EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen had helped address some of the “complex challenges” created by Brexit.
“Negotiators listened to business leaders across the UK and Ireland who shared what they needed to succeed, and I believe the stability and predictability offered by this framework will encourage greater investment in Northern Ireland – significant investment in Northern Ireland,” he said, echoing arguments made by Mr Sunak.
Mr Biden said 25 years without violence meant the “incredible economic opportunity is just beginning”, adding: “There are scores of major American corporations wanting to come here, wanting to invest,” he said.
“The 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland’s gross domestic product has literally doubled,” he said – saying it could triple in the years ahead.
Mr Biden also said his special envoy to Northern Ireland, Joe Kennedy III, would “supercharge” work to encourage more investment in the region and help it realise its “enormous economic potential”.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson described Mr Biden’s remarks as “measured”, saying he was right to point “towards prosperity as being the focus of the next 25 years”. But the DUP leader said the speech “does not change the political dynamic” over the protocol.
Asked if he believed Mr Biden was “anti-British”, Sir Jeffrey said he welcomed the US president’s reference “to the Ulster Scots who made such an enormous contribution to the building of the United States of America”.
Earlier, a spokesperson for the US National Security Council accompanying Mr Biden on his trip said his “track record shows he is not anti-British”, saying the comments Ms Foster and others in the DUP were “simply untrue”.
Mr Biden met briefly with the leaders of the five largest political parties after arriving at the Ulster University campus in Belfast – including Sir Jeffrey, Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill, Alliance leader Naomi Long, UUP leader Doug Beattie and SDLP leader Colum Eastwood.
Sinn Fein Stormont leader Michelle O’Neill said Mr Biden’s speech had “sent a clear message to the DUP” that the party should end its boycott and return to government.
Speaking after a brief one-on-one meeting with Mr Biden, Ms O’Neill said she felt his message was “on the right note”. She said: “I think his message was clear, we need peace, we need stability and we need prosperity, those things all go hand in hand.”
Mr Sunak has said the relationship between the UK and the US is in “great shape” after his own meeting with the US president. “I know he shares my ambition to see the institutions here back up and running, that is what people and businesses in Northern Ireland deserve,” the PM told broadcasters.
However, Mr Biden and Mr Sunak did not discuss any UK-US free trade agreement during their meeting, it was indicated. Mr Biden’s spokesperson said the pair were not going to be talking about a trade deal.
Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris rejected any suggestion Mr Sunak’s lack of attendance at Ulster University was a “snub”. He said: “They had their bilateral this morning. The prime minister has got other private engagements that he has gone to.”
