Northern Ireland denies that Biden's visit will change policy

Havana, April 13 (RHC) - Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Jeffrey Donaldson denied today that US President Joe Biden's visit would change the political dynamics of his country.

“The more than a year-long boycott of the region's power-sharing government is not going to change, because we know what must happen”, he told reporters when asked if the visit made any difference to his party's stance.

Biden has called for a return to power sharing, a policy design that was established as a result of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. However, the chamber cannot function with the boycott of the DUP.

The unionist party claimed that post-Brexit trade rules mean Northern Ireland is treated differently from the rest of the UK and they cannot tolerate such policies.

We believe the UK government must go further in terms of protecting Northern Ireland's place within the UK and our ability to trade within the UK's internal market.

That must happen to allow us to move towards restoring political institutions, Donaldson said, adding that his movement will provide the British government with a proposal to find a solution to the current impasse.

The DUP is a loyalist and nationally conservative Northern Ireland political party, considered the second largest in Stormont and fifth in the UK House of Commons. DUP sees itself as the protector of British and Protestant culture against Irish nationalism and republicanism on the island.

Former DUP leader Arlene Foster criticized Biden, claiming that the US president hates the UK. According to her, her visit to Belfast will not put any pressure on the party to restore the chamber because she is seen as simply pro-republican and pro-nationalist.

The US president yesterday delivered a speech at Ulster University's new Belfast campus commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday peace agreement, which ended decades of violent conflict in Northern Ireland. (Source: Prensa Latina)