I visited Ireland to make sure Brits didn’t screw around, says Biden

His comments infuriate the Democratic Unionist Party, which is refusing to re-enter the province’s power-sharing government.

Joe Biden at Saint Muredach's Cathedral in Ballina last month. Picture: AFP

Joe Biden has claimed that he visited Ireland last month to ­ensure that the “Brits didn’t screw around” with the Good Friday agreement.

In comments made at a Democratic Party event in New York, the US President suggested that he had to visit Belfast and Dublin to ensure that the British government abided by its “commitments” to the Northern Ireland peace process.

Mr Biden spent less than 24 hours in Belfast before travelling south to Dublin – a rite of passage for all US presidents keen to play up their Irish antecedents.

But speaking to reporters, Mr Biden suggested his presence was necessary – despite the agreement between Britain and the EU to reform the Northern Ireland protocol having been ­announced. “I got to go back to Ireland for the Irish accords, to make sure the Brits didn’t screw around and Northern Ireland didn’t walk away from their commitments,” he said.

His comments infuriated the Democratic Unionist Party, which is refusing to re-enter Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government over its opposition to the post-Brexit trading relationship with Britain. “It’s unbelievable and frightening to think this man is the leader of the free world,” Sammy Wilson, the party’s chief whip, said. “If you believe that there should be a special relationship between the US and UK, then at least show us some respect.”

Shailesh Vara, a Conservative Brexiteer MP, called it “deeply regrettable” that Mr Biden used “such language to further his re-election chances”.

But Naomi Long, leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, said Mr Biden’s remarks should not be taken at face value. “Joe has always been slightly gaffe-prone, I don’t think that’s news to anybody. But what really matters is what he does rather than what he says,” she said.

Clearly determined to avoid a diplomatic spat, Downing Street refused to be drawn on Mr Biden’s comments but said the Windsor framework was the “culmination of substantive work between the UK and the EU”, and the UK priority was “always protecting the Good Friday agreement”. “We have been consistent on that point throughout and we are pleased that between the UK and the EU we have been able to reach an agreement that works for the people of Northern Ireland and for the whole of the UK,” a spokesman said.

The Windsor framework has not so far led to a return of power-sharing in Northern Ireland, with Stormont still collapsed after the DUP pulled out.

The Times