US President Joe Biden's trip to Belfast blighted by terror alert

2023-04-10

US President Joe Biden’s trip to Belfast blighted by terror alert after ‘strong’ intelligence of plans to attack discovered

Police chiefs received ‘strong’ intelligence of plans to carry out terror attacks
Joe Biden will travel to Belfast for Good Friday Agreement anniversary events

Joe Biden’s visit to Northern Ireland next week has been overshadowed by the heightened terror threat and political vacuum in Stormont.

The US president will arrive in Belfast on Tuesday – but police in the province fear that dissident republicans could launch attacks the day before.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chiefs said the force had received ‘strong’ intelligence of plans to carry out terror attacks against officers in Londonderry on Easter Monday.

Mr Biden will arrive on Tuesday evening ahead of a day of commemorative events marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which was signed on April 10, 1998.

The peace deal was a diplomatic feat that created powersharing in the province and brought 30 years of bloodshed largely to an end.

Joe Biden will arrive on Tuesday evening ahead of a day of commemorative events marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which was signed on April 10, 1998

But the president will not visit Stormont, where it was hoped he would address the Assembly. Though sources blamed it on logistics, there is speculation that the decision was taken for political reasons.

Stormont has not functioned since last February, when the DUP withdrew its first minister from the ministerial executive in protest at the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said he could sympathise with Mr Biden’s decision not to address the Assembly.

‘I mean, why would he go to an empty building? He might as well go to a wake,’ he told RTE yesterday.

On Thursday, PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said the force had received ‘strong’ intelligence that dissidents are planning to launch terror attacks against officers on the bank holiday.

It comes after MI5 recently raised the terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland to severe, meaning an attack is highly likely. This followed the gun attack in Co Tyrone on senior detective John Caldwell, who was left with life-changing injuries. Police have blamed the New IRA for the attack.

Easter Monday is the day that dissident republicans traditionally mark the anniversary of the Easter Rising rebellion against British rule in 1916, with a parade set to take place in Londonderry. DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said yesterday that the idea that the collapse of the powersharing institutions had fuelled violence ‘doesn’t stack up’.

‘While Stormont was sitting for many years these dissident republicans engaged in violence, they murdered police officers,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added: ‘I remember during one sitting of the Assembly they murdered two soldiers in Co Antrim as they were preparing for deployment to Afghanistan. Of course, we want to see Stormont fully functioning, but the idea that when we get Stormont back up and running, dissident republicans will put their guns away, I didn’t hear the Chief Constable [Simon Byrne] suggest that. The idea that evil men and women who go out to commit murder react to political circumstances simply doesn’t stack up.’

It is understood Mr Biden’s trip to Northern Ireland will involve just one engagement at Ulster University. He will also visit Dublin, Co Louth and Co Mayo next week. His itinerary is expected to include delivering a speech to the Irish parliament, but without his secret service agents.

His armed bodyguards have been banned from the chamber of the Dail in Dublin, as guns are not allowed. But a compromise has been found where they can stand just two metres away from the president behind an open door during the speech, the Daily Telegraph reported.

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