US President Joe Biden is visiting Northern Ireland before heading south to Co Louth, where he will visit Carlingford Castle and hear about his great-great-grandfather. His only public engagement in Belfast will be a public address at Ulster University, where he will be joined by political leaders, youth, business and civic communities. Expect Biden to make political statements on the achievement of the 1998 Belfast Agreement. After the Ulster University speech, Biden and his entourage will head south to Co Louth for a visit to Carlingford Castle.

US President Joe Biden arrived in Northern Ireland yesterday on Air Force One and is starting his day with a public address at Ulster University. He will be joined by the North’s political leaders along with youth, business, and civic community representatives. Biden is expected to make political statements about the 1998 Belfast Agreement. After his address, he will head to Co Louth to visit Carlingford Castle and hear about his great-great-grandfather, who left for the US in the 1840s. There will be expected walkabouts in Carlingford and Dundalk before he returns to Dublin in the evening. The White House has denied Biden being “anti-British” and stated that the UK is one of the US’s closest allies globally. The White House anticipates that during Biden’s meeting with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak, the US president will not discuss a free trade deal with the UK, but the issue may arise during Sunak’s visit to Washington in June. Biden and his entourage are expected to have conversations with Northern Ireland political leaders rather than just greeting them. Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald has said that there is a need to “stop this sense of limbo” in relation to power-sharing. She hopes that Biden’s visit will deliver a positive forward-looking message and a clear message that now is the time to end the boycott and to deliver for the people of North Ireland.

The recent Windsor Framework deal between the European Union and the UK to ease post-Brexit trade barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK may be a topic of discussion during Biden’s visit. This deal has failed to convince the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to end a boycott of the devolved powersharing government, which is a key part of the 1998 peace deal. Though Mr Biden is expected to greet representatives of the DUP and the other four main Northern Ireland political parties, it is unclear if they will hold separate meetings. Biden’s sense of Irishness is profound, and he identifies closely with Catholicism. His visit marks the 11th time a US president has visited Ireland, with three visits made by Bill Clinton between 1995 and 2000. Biden is the eighth sitting US president to come to the country.