US President Joe Biden's trip to Belfast blighted by terror alert trends now
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Joe Biden's visit to Northern Ireland next week has been overshadowed by the heightened terror threat and political vacuum in Stormont.
The US president will arrive in Belfast on Tuesday – but police in the province fear that dissident republicans could launch attacks the day before.
Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chiefs said the force had received 'strong' intelligence of plans to carry out terror attacks against officers in Londonderry on Easter Monday.
Mr Biden will arrive on Tuesday evening ahead of a day of commemorative events marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which was signed on April 10, 1998.
The peace deal was a diplomatic feat that created powersharing in the province and brought 30 years of bloodshed largely to an end.
Joe Biden will arrive on Tuesday evening ahead of a day of commemorative events marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which was signed on April 10, 1998
But the president will not visit Stormont, where it was hoped he would address the Assembly. Though sources blamed it on logistics, there is speculation that the decision was taken for political reasons.
Stormont has not functioned since last February, when the DUP withdrew its first minister from the ministerial executive in protest at the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams
