live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news it s newsday. hello and welcome to the programme. president biden has arrived in belfast for a four day trip to mark the 25th anniversary of the historic good friday agreement. the landmark deal largely brought to an end the 30 year conflict in northern ireland known as the troubles. president biden says he looks forward to reiterating america s commitment to preserving the peace. my colleague emma vardy has more. air force i arrives at belfast international and northern ireland s first presidential visit in ten years is under way. time for a short hello with rishi sunak on the tarmac before the president was whisked away for the night. a ring of steel is in place in belfast city centre in what is one of the biggest security operations here of recent years. we ve been planning for this for a number of weeks. we ve prepared for all the various contingencies. our style and tone that we ll be delivering around this policing o
in the last hour, the president of the united states has arrived in belfast for a four day trip to mark the 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement. president biden, who has strong family ties to the republic of ireland, sees the 1998 agreement, which helped end northern ireland s decades long violent conflict known as the troubles, as part of his own political legacy. speaker president biden says he looks forward to reiterating america s commitment to preserving the peace. tomorrow, he ll deliver a speech at ulster university, speaker before travelling to the republic of ireland for the remainder speaker r of his four day visit. the trip will also celebrate his own family s roots in the republic. he ll attend events in louth and mayo, where he will visit his ancestral homes. there ll also be official engagements in dublin. he ll then leave for america on friday. our ireland correspondent, emma vardy, is in belfast, where air force one has just touched down. emma. joe b
and a pair of trainers worn by the us basketball superstar michaeljordan sells at auction for a record 2.2 million dollars. hello and welcome to the programme. president biden has arrived in belfast for a four day trip to mark the 25th anniversary of the historic good friday agreement. the landmark deal largely brought to an end the 30 year conflict in northern ireland, known as the troubles. president biden says he looks forward to reiterating america s commitment to preserving the peace. my colleague emma vardy has more. air force one arrives at belfast international, and northern ireland s first presidential visit in ten years is under way. time for a short hello with rishi sunak on the tarmac before the president was whisked away for the night. a ring of steel is in place in belfast city centre in what is one of the biggest security operations here of recent years. we ve been planning for this for a number of weeks. we ve prepared for all the various contingencies. our st
we ve been planning for this for a number of weeks. we ve prepared for all the various contingencies. our style and tone that we ll be delivering around this policing operation will be will remain a community focused style policing. presidential visits of the past have held great significance for northern ireland s peace process. you must say to those who still would use violence for political objectives you were the past. in 1995, not long after a ceasefire had been declared by the republican armed paramilitaries, the ira, bill clinton crossed belfast s peace line to visit the divided republican and loyalist communities. and on belfast s falls road came an historic moment. the first public handshake between a us president and the leader of what many still believe to be the political wing of the ira. bill clinton s visit helped pave the way for sinn fein tojoin peace talks. there was some political pressure, wasn t there,
and on belfast s falls road came a historic moment. the first public handshake between a us president and the leader of what many still believe to be the political wing of the ira. bill clinton s visit helped pave the way for sinn fein tojoin peace talks. there was some political pressure, wasn t there, for him not to come here? what did that handshake achieve for you? well, it was a very clear symbolic indication to this community, which had suffered grievously, that the president of the usa was recognising them and other communities as well, of course. but this stretch of the road, you only walk the length of yourself. somebody died here, you know, while at the hands of british soldiers that they are, you see, orthe ira or the loyalists. and it was a moment of unquestionable symbolism. there s long been a strong connection with ireland for millions of americans with irish ancestry. there is president kennedy. whenjohn f kennedy visited ireland, he described it as the best four days