‘It’s the Irish way’ – Joe Biden urges North’s leaders to engage in talks

Mary Lou McDonald, Michelle O’Neill, Colum Eastwood, Naomi Long, Doug Beattie and Jeffrey Donaldson were all addressed by Mr Biden as he addressed the traditional St Patrick’s Day Speaker’s Lunch on Capitol Hill.

He quoted Seamus Heaney’s famous lines about the rhyming of hope and history, adding: “There is no reason why we can’t find common ground.

“That’s the power of friendship. And, simply put, it’s the Irish way.”

He made his remarks in the presence of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, the former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, and various US senators, congressmen and Washington luminaries.

Mr Biden said the Windsor Framework was a vital step in helping ensure that all the people in Northern Ireland have an opportunity to realise their full potential.

He said the Good Friday Agreement had “delivered 25 years of peace and progress” in Northern Ireland. “It’s all about hope,” he added.

People were defined by their courage and rewarded for their loyalty, he said, citing an old Biden family proverb.

Mr Varadkar in his remarks said there was now a duty to fulfil the agreement’s promise. He noted that new generations were growing up with no memory of violence in Northern Ireland.

The Windsor Framework, announced last month by British prime minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, would build a more prosperous Northern Ireland, he insisted.

The Taoiseach drew applause when he spoke about Ireland’s stance on Ukraine, saying we will not stay silent “when liberty and fundamental human rights are being attacked”.

Event host Kevin McCarthy, the current House Speaker, noted that the lunch was a tradition begun in the 1980s by Ronald Reagan and Speaker Tip O’Neill, who were from opposite sides of the aisle.

Meanwhile Irish was spoken in the Oval Office for the first time yesterday as Mr Varadkar used our first national language at his meeting with the US president.

Speaking as Seachtain na Gaeilge drew to a close, he switched to Irish to thank Mr Biden for the US’s help over Brexit, for its support of Ukraine, and he referred to excitement in Ireland at Mr Biden’s forthcoming visit.

He then repeated his comments in English and elaborated on them.

It is believed to be the first time a Taoiseach has spoken in Irish in the Oval Office.

“I really want to thank you for your help and support and understanding for our position on Brexit in recent years, it really made a difference and we’ve got to a good place now, I think, with the Windsor Framework, where we can have an agreement that lasts which is important for Northern Ireland, and also important for British, Irish and European relations,” Mr Varadkar said.

But there was no further information from the US president as to where he will go or what he will do on next month’s trip as the press opportunity lasted just two minutes.

Separately, at a breakfast event yesterday, Mr Varadkar said that if not for American-led progress on gay rights, “I would not be standing here”.

Mr Varadkar had made his comments as he attended the St Patrick’s Day breakfast hosted by Kamala Harris.

Mr Varadkar said he and partner Matt Barrett were members of the LGBTQ+ community who had seen rapid progress since the Stonewall riots in New York City, a site he has previously visited.

The Taoiseach and Mr Barrett were hosted by Ms Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, at the Naval Observatory, the official residence of the US vice president.

Mr Biden began the tradition of a St Patrick’s Day breakfast when he was No 2 in the Obama administration, and Ms Harris commented: “The president is exuberant – and I have now caught the bug.”