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Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd played down suggestions that fears over an Easter Monday attack were linked to the arrival of Biden and the world’s media, and said there was “no such intelligence” to suggest the anniversary had motivated plotting by dissident republicans.
The biggest police operation for a decade in Northern Ireland is under way, with more officers put in front-line roles and an increased in 12-hour shifts.
Publicans put up US flags outside the Blue Square bar in Ballina, Ireland.Credit: AP
Biden – who will also visit Dublin, County Louth and County Mayo during his four-day visit – will give a key address at Ulster University’s newly opened Belfast campus in his sole engagement in Northern Ireland.
Announcing the Belfast speech, university vice-chancellor and president Professor Paul Bartholomew said the institution was looking forward to “what will be a very special day in [its] history” and to hosting Biden on his first visit to Northern Ireland since he became president.
The university’s Belfast campus, which opened last autumn, “truly reflects the hope and promise” of the Good Friday Agreement “and our aspirations for a positive, prosperous, and sustainable future for everyone”, Batholomew said.
Sunak reached a deal with the European Union in February to ease post-Brexit trade rules between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, but the political stalemate has yet to be resolved.
People walk past a mural depicting the Battle of the Bogside on a wall in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.Credit: AP
Sunak said the anniversary of the deal marked an “incredible moment” in UK history.
“It was a powerfully rare example of people doing the previously unthinkable to create a better future for Northern Ireland,” he said. “It is that promise of a better future that we offered to everyone in Northern Ireland that I will be thinking of first and foremost over the coming days.”
The UK is seeking to restart talks with the US for a trade deal, people familiar with the matter said, hoping to overcome Biden’s reluctance over agreements that are unpopular with key American voters.
Biden’s affection for Ireland and scepticism about the wisdom of Brexit have hardly been disguised, but he has always accepted the British right to leave the EU.
There were indications the US was prepared to dangle a free trade agreement as an incentive if the UK compromised over the legitimacy of border checks in Northern Ireland to protect the integrity of the single market.
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