IRL - Ahead of Biden visit Sunak says more work needed to restore Northern Ireland government

2023-04-10 06:18:48 ET

Ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden's visit to Northern Ireland on Tuesday, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called on Stormont leaders to "get on" with governance as more work needs to be done to restore the power-sharing government central to the Good Friday agreement.

Biden will attend events marking the 25th anniversary of the peace deal, signed on April 10, 1998, which ended political conflict that killed more than 3.5K people over three decades. The visit signifies the role the U.S. played in brokering the deal.

Sunak said efforts had to be intensified to restore the power-sharing government, BBC reported. "This is an agreement born of partnership between the British and Irish governments and, as we will see from President Biden's visit, it continues to enjoy huge international support," he said . "We must recommit to redoubling our efforts on the promise made in 1998 and the agreements that followed."

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Sunday vowed to ramp up efforts to break the political deadlock in Northern Ireland.

Ties between the U.K. and Northern Ireland have been strained owing to trade complications arising from Brexit, which eventually led to the collapse of the region's cross-community government last year. U.K.'s MI5 intelligence agency is said to have raised the threat level from domestic terrorism in Northern Ireland to "severe" as it believes an attack is highly likely.

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Earlier, Sunak looks to set new Brexit tone with Windsor Framework .

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