US President Joe Biden shakes hands with Rishi Sunak on visit to Northern Ireland marking 25th anniversary of Good Friday Agreement. Security is heightened for the visit.

US President Joe Biden has visited Northern Ireland to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, the peace treaty that ended decades of sectarian conflict in the region. Biden’s four-day trip also included visits to the Republic of Ireland, where he traced his ancestry, and meetings with political leaders. The North of Ireland is currently in political turmoil, with power-sharing suspended and the threat of terrorist attacks, including the discovery of suspected pipe bombs during Biden’s visit. The policing of his trip, reportedly costing £7m, was the largest in nearly a decade, with 300 officers from other parts of the UK also deployed. Rishi Sunak, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, met with Biden to discuss restarting Stormont, the suspended regional government, following the passing of the Windsor Framework and a new Brexit deal. However, the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party remains opposed to the previous Northern Ireland Protocol, which was replaced by the Windsor Framework, and is preventing the return of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Biden’s trip aimed to underline the continuing US commitment to preserving peace in Northern Ireland.