Biden to Address Irish Parliament but Faces Boycott Over His Foreign Policy

DUBLIN, IRELAND - APRIL 13: In this handout image provided by the Irish Government, US President Joe Biden (R) watched by Irish President Michael D Higgins, signs the visitors book at the Irish President's official residence Áras an Uachtaráin on April 13, 2023 in Dublin, Ireland. US President Joe Biden has travelled to Northern Ireland and Ireland with his sister Valerie Biden Owens and son Hunter Biden to explore his family's Irish heritage and mark the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Peace Agreement. (Photo by Julien Behal/Irish Government via Getty Images)

DUBLIN, Ireland—President Joe Biden on Thursday met with Irish President Michael Higgins in Dublin and is scheduled to address a joint session of the Irish parliament as part of his four-day visit to the island of Ireland.

During his meeting with Higgins, Biden participated in a tree-planting ceremony and ringing of the Peace Bell. Later, he met with the Irish prime minister, or taoiseach, Leo Varadkar.

During his address to the parliament, Biden will be “reflecting on the long, close, and shared history between the United States and Ireland,” Amanda Sloat, senior director for Europe at the U.S. National Security Council, told reporters on Thursday.

Biden will also be discussing areas of cooperation between the two countries, such as Ukraine and Northern Ireland, she added.

Days before his parliamentary address, People Before Profit, a far-left political party in Ireland, announced that it would be boycotting the speech over objections to Biden’s foreign policy.

“Biden is not a man of peace but another warmonger,” the political party said on its website and called for people to protest over his visit.

The left-wing Irish lawmakers slammed Biden’s foreign policy on Palestine, Ukraine, and Saudi Arabia, as well as the lack of opportunity for lawmakers to ask questions.

When asked about the boycott during a press conference, Sloat said Biden will meet with the leaders of Ireland’s main political parties.

The president “has received an incredibly warm welcome here in Ireland,” she said.

“He is very much appreciative of the invitation to address the Houses of Parliament today, is looking forward to touching base with the leaders of Ireland’s main political parties ahead of his address, and is looking forward to what really is a historic opportunity for him to set out his views to the Irish people and to the Irish legislature.”

Good Friday Agreement

Biden arrived in Belfast on Tuesday evening to kick off his personal and political trip to Northern Ireland and Ireland. His visit coincided with the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, a peace deal that ended 30 years of violent conflict in Northern Ireland.

On Wednesday, Biden told an audience at Ulster University in Belfast that the 1998 accord, in which former President Bill Clinton and Sen. George Mitchell (D-Maine) played key roles, had required a lot of hard work.

The agreement established peace between unionists, who wanted Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK, and nationalists, who wanted it to become part of the Republic of Ireland. The agreement ended three decades of violence that had killed over 3,500 people.

“There were no guarantees that the deal on paper would hold, no guarantees it would be able to deliver the progress we celebrate today,” Biden said during his speech at Ulster University.

“I know the UK’s departure from the European Union presented complex challenges here in Northern Ireland and I encourage the leaders of the UK and the EU to address the issues in a way that serve[s] Northern Ireland’s best interest,” he said.

The president’s visit took place against a tense political backdrop in Belfast. Since February 2022, the Northern Ireland Assembly has been suspended as unionist parties refuse to take their seats in protest of the Brexit settlement.

Biden said that he supported Good Friday Agreement and the Windsor Framework that sets out Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit relationship with European Union and the UK.

Biden urged local politicians to sort out their differences and restore the power-sharing executive that was a key part of the Good Friday Agreement, warning of the threat posed by the “enemies of peace.”

‘Anti-British’

On Wednesday, Biden also met UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Belfast to discuss the political situation in Northern Ireland. It was the third time the two leaders had met since Sunak took over from former Prime Minister Liz Truss in October 2022.

The White House rejected accusations that Biden was “anti-British” as he met with the prime minister.

Earlier, Arlene Foster, former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland, claimed in an interview that Biden hated the UK because “he is seen by so many people as just simply pro-republican and pro-nationalist.”

“The track record of the president shows that he’s not anti-British,” Sloat responded during a press briefing in Belfast.

She said it was “simply untrue” and pointed out he was engaging with Sunak for the third time in three months.

Biden, who is accompanied by his son Hunter and sister Valerie, is scheduled to visit some distant cousins in Ballina, County Mayo, on Friday before returning to the United States.