Remind me again, what was the point of Joe Biden visiting Northern Ireland?
Rishi Sunak may get better billing with the Clintons in Belfast today
The main thing about Joe Biden’s visit to Northern Ireland was its brevity. On his one full day in the province (April 12), he left right after lunch, which meant it was a half-day after all.
It was, as the BBC’s political editor Chris Mason termed it, a “blink and you’ll miss it visit”. The US president, he pointed out, would “be in Northern Ireland for only around 15 hours, for around half of which he’ll be in bed”.
As there was no joint press conference with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and no substantial political intervention — Stormant is dormant, anyway, remember -Downing Street started to look ahead to the arrival in Northern Ireland of the next set of heavy-hitters from the US.
The Agreement 25 conference in Belfast (April 19) is hosted by former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and attended by ex-President Bill Clinton. Mr Sunak is present for the whole shindig, which includes a gala dinner (chicken, fondant pot…
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