hello and welcome. president biden will address the irish parliament in dublin this afternoon, as he continues his visit to the island of ireland. today, he s expected to affirm the strong ties between the republic of ireland and the united states. our correspondent, charlotte gallagher, is in dublin. he is already here this morning, he is going to meet the irish president at his official residency. they are going to plant a tree together and then they will be in the city centre speaking to politicians at the irish parliament. only the fourth time a us president has been invited to do this so it is a huge honourforjoe biden who is incredibly proud of his irish roots. we saw yesterday he was meeting his family members and locals there and at times, to be honest, it looked like he was on holiday, he was having such a good time. let s see what he got up to. an irish homecoming for a us president. joe biden, who describes himself as a proud irish american, arrives in his ancestra
than a year, because the democratic unionist party, the biggest party which wants to keep northern ireland in the uk, is vetoing the formation of the power sharing coalition because of its concerns over brexit trade barriers with the rest of the uk. setting that aside, when you look back at the last 25 years, the change in northern ireland has been remarkable. the level of political balance has dramatically reduced to the extent that it is relatively rare now, so coming after a bitter sectarian conflict that lasted three decades, and cost the lives of three and half thousand people, it has been a very successful, peace process, most would say. the president biden is likely to again reflect on that, the fact that it was a peace process that benefits the whole island of ireland. most of ireland in northern ireland but the republic was touched by the conflict as well. so we can expect him to talk about that. with regard to the major conflict in the world today, ukraine, that has
hello, i m sumi somaskanda. us presidentjoe biden has touched down in belfast for the start of his visit to northern ireland and the republic. the four day trip marks the 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement. the deal largely brought an end to the 30 year conflict in northern ireland known as the troubles. but political turmoil persists, even if less violent in nature than the past. here s president biden s schedule. on wednesday, biden will deliver a speech at ulster university, before travelling to the republic of ireland. there he ll celebrate his own family s roots, attending events in louth and mayo. there will also be official discussions in dublin, where biden will meet with irish president michael d higgins. he ll then head back to america on friday. the bbc s lucy hockings has more from belfast. so president biden has arrived and there was a small crowd that came down to the centre of belfast to greet him. they braved the wind and the rain. the weather has t
the deal largely brought an end to the 30 year conflict in northern ireland, known as the troubles. but political turmoil persists, even if less violent in nature than the past. here s president biden s schedule: on wednesdeay, biden will deliver a speech at ulster university, before travelling to the republic of ireland. there, he ll celebrate his own family s roots, attending events in louth and mayo. there will also be official discussions in dublin, where biden will meet with irish president michael d. higgins. he ll then head back to america on friday. the bbc s lucy hockings has more from belfast. so president biden has arrived and there was a small crowd that came down to the centre of belfast to greet him. they braved the wind and the rain. the weather has truly been atrocious. to welcome him to belfast. and i spoke to one northern ireland politics student and he said the reason he had come was because a visit by one of the most powerful people in the world, a us pres
the deal largely brought an end to the 30 year conflict in northern ireland, known as the troubles but political turmoil persists, even if less violent in nature than the past. here s president biden s schedule: on wednesday, biden will deliver a speech at ulster university before travelling to the republic of ireland. there, he ll celebrate his own family s roots, attending events in louth and mayo. there will also be official discussions in dublin, where biden will meet with irish president michael d. higgins. he ll then head back to america on friday. the bbc s lucy hockings has more from belfast. so president biden has arrived and there was a small crowd that came down to the centre of belfast to greet him. they braved the wind and the rain the weather has truly been atrocious to welcome him to belfast. ana i spoke to one northern ireland politics student and he said the reason that he had come was because a visit by one of the most powerful people in the world, a us