Biden’s Investment Promise Not Enough to End Northern Ireland Impasse
- President’s Belfast speech navigates political sensitivities
- But unionist DUP still refuses to rejoin region’s government
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US President Joe Biden navigated sensitive issues of identity that divide Northern Ireland, and even dangled the carrot of major investment if its peace process endures and power-sharing government is restored.
But his long-awaited speech in Belfast on Wednesday is unlikely to provide the game-changing moment that ends the region’s political paralysis, which is now a serious headache for the British government and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. His trip, so far, has also captured the at times awkward diplomatic relationship between the US and UK under his administration. His affinity to Ireland, and skepticism about the UK’s approach to Northern Ireland, is central to that.