US President Joe Biden was in Ireland this week, a trip commemorating the Good Friday Agreement and to tour the island, but felt more like a bit of a jolly instead of a serious diplomatic outing.
Biden comes from Irish-American stock, and wears his Irishness on his sleeve. He has joked in the past of not liking England due to his heritage, and once refused to answer a question from a BBC reporter, simply answering; “I’m Irish.”
Despite these incidents causing minor diplomatic spats when they first happened, they were said with Biden’s characteristic wry smile and were obviously meant as harmless jokes. I for one find it refreshing to see a leader who is not so obsessed with pleasing everyone all the time that all they offer is platitudes.
Biden arrived in Belfast on Wednesday and met with Prime Minister Sunak, as well as addressing students at the new Ulster University campus (his only official engagement in Northern Ireland). He apparently refused to address Stormont, citing his desire for the devolved administration to be restored before he gives any endorsement.
The re-establishment of the Northern Irish Assembly is an issue that Biden has been vocal about in the past, and his refusal to address the body should not be taken as a slight, but as encouragement for power-sharing to be restored once more.
Biden’s visit coincided with the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement, an agreement that the US mediated and that former President Clinton was instrumental in achieving, who arrived in Belfast a few days before Biden. Biden hailed the progress that has been made since the agreement was signed, saying Northern Ireland was “made technicolour by peace.”
His visit to Northern Ireland was fleeting; he was only in the UK for less than a day. His real reason for visiting this side of the Atlantic was obvious to all before he touched down. He has family roots on Counties Mayo and Louth, and spent the vast majority of his time in the Republic. He met with Irish President Michael Higgins and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who called Biden “the most Irish of all American Presidents”. He was greeted by rapturous crowds everywhere he went, and ended his visit with an impassioned speech in his ancestral hometown of Ballina in County Mayo.
Whilst the visit to Ireland kept US-Irish relations strong and gave the President an excuse to do some sightseeing, it has also been a successful PR move for Biden. It is expected that he will soon announce his intention to run in the 2024 elections, despite the fact his popularity with Americans is quite a bit lower than it is with the Irish.
People of Irish heritage are a significant plurality of the white population in the US, a category the Democrats have historically underperformed with at the polls. By touring the nation and connecting with his Irishness, Biden is drawing attention to his ancestry, potentially softening up the white vote before he announces his intention to run.
Biden is 80, and is already the oldest President in US history. Trump, who many bet on to win the Republican nomination, is no spring chicken himself, only slightly younger than Biden. Biden’s real threat would come from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. DeSantis is Trump’s biggest threat for nomination, and would be a very serious contender for the Presidency if selected. He’s one of the most popular figures in the party and in his political prime. Biden’s victory over Trump would be expected, but his victory over DeSantis would be far less certain. In that scenario, Biden would need as much of the white vote as he could get.
stay safe
/e