Biden may use summit to push Irish agenda

TOMORROW, Joe Biden will be inaugurated as the United States of America’s 46th president.

Just five months later, he will represent his nation at the G7 summit in Carbis Bay, St Ives, which – unless he is granted the honour of a State Visit in the intervening months – will be his first official visit to the UK as US President.

However, it is possible he may use the visit as an opportunity not only to voice his various concerns and plans – not least, any moves by his country’s previous president to see Russia return to the G7 – but also as a potential stopping-off point to visit his nearby ancestral homeland of Ireland.

Mr Biden, a former Vice-President to President Barack Obama, has made not any secret of his love of the Emerald Isle. In 2016, Mr Biden, an avowed Irish-American, enjoyed a six-day visit to the land of his forefathers. He visited Dublin and then the counties of Louth and Mayo. His most influential Irish connection stems from his late mother, Jean Biden. She is descended from the Finnegan family from County Louth, close to the border with Northern Ireland.

As a result of his roots, he has been very vocal about his concerns regarding Brexit and its impact on Northern Ireland, as well as the Republic. News reports from November last year suggest that he used his first phone call to Boris Johnson as President-elect to warn the Prime Minister not to compromise peace in Northern Ireland in his pursuit of Brexit.

Mr Biden has repeatedly reaffirmed his support of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement peace deal which put an end to political violence in Northern Ireland, which many have claimed is at risk thanks to Brexit.