Joe Biden on Thursday posed for a selfie with Gerry Adams, the former leader of the Irish Nationalist Party Sinn Fein, in another slap to his advisers scrambling to insist he is not anti-British.
Adams spent his life trying to secure a united Ireland, and to end British rule in the north. Despite rumors circulating for years, Adams always denied any membership in the IRA and refuted any involvement in its campaign of terror during the decades of Troubles.
Addressing a joint session of Parliament at Leinster House in Dublin, Biden delivered a speech he said “reflects the enduring strength of the bond between Ireland and the United States, a partnership for the ages”.
Among the listeners was Adams, the 74-year-old former leader of Sinn Féin, who has known Biden for many years.
Adams, who stepped down as Sinn Fein boss in 2018 after 30 years, posted a selfie of the couple together, captioning it: “Biden boss selfie.”
The selfie does little to help White House aides, who insisted on Wednesday that Biden is “not anti-British”.
Gerry Adams, who has always denied being an IRA member, posted a selfie with Joe Biden on Thursday, while Biden addressed a joint session of the Irish Parliament
On Thursday, Biden was seen addressing the session at Leinster House, Dublin
Biden spoke later on Thursday at a banquet at Dublin Castle
Biden met Adams on a previous visit to Ireland in 2017.
At the time, Biden was the former vice president, and Adams the leader of Sinn Féin.
The duo met in Dublin for a meeting Adams described as an opportunity to brief Biden on negotiations to restore political institutions in the North.
“We also talked about the potentially harmful impact of Brexit on the island of Ireland, in particular the implications for the border and for the Good Friday Agreement,” Adams said at the time.
Biden was seen meeting Adams in 2017, while Biden – the former vice president – was visiting Dublin. Adams was at the time the leader of Sinn Féin
And in November 2020, it was revealed that Biden pressured then-President Bill Clinton to grant Adams a US visa in 1993 — despite the British government’s wishes.
Allowing Adams to visit the United States, Biden argued, would draw him deeper into the peace process and distance him from the IRA’s ongoing armed struggle against British rule in the province.
pressure was Confirmed by Sir Peter WestmacottFormer British Ambassador to the United States.
Biden has strong British roots. . . But he has stronger Irish roots, and was one of four prominent Democratic senators who urged President Clinton in 1993 to take a risk for peace and allow Jerry Adams and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein to visit the United States, ignoring protests from the Number 10, he said.
Clinton tweeted in 2019, on the 25th anniversary of Adams’ visit to the United States, that his decision to grant the visa was “very controversial yet crucial” to moving the peace process forward.
The decision angered the British government.
Biden, on this current trip, also met Adams’ successor as Sinn Féin leader, Mary Lou MacDonald.
Biden is seen with Adams’ successor as Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou MacDonald (left) and Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill (right)
O’Neill also met with Biden on Wednesday in Belfast, thanking him for his “profound investment in the ongoing transformation of our society.”
On Thursday, MacDonald and Sinn Fein Vice President Michelle O’Neill posted photos of their meeting with Biden.
‘It was a great day by all.’ The special relationship between our two countries is strong and lasting. History, family and friendship ties, McDonald tweeted.
O’Neill also met Biden in Belfast on Wednesday.
“It was a pleasure to welcome President Joe Biden to Belfast today, strengthening our partnership for peace and prosperity with the United States of America,” she wrote on Twitter.
It is wonderful to see President Biden so deeply invested in the continued transformation of our society, and I welcome his commitment to working with us to build a brighter and better future for all of our people. 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement, we must now work together to seize the exciting opportunities that lie ahead in a new executive position.
; Striving forward as one to attract investment, create jobs for our youth, and ensure that all communities reap the fruits of our peace.
“Leading an executive who brings prosperity to every citizen is my priority.”
The 80-year-old — considered the most Irish of the US presidents, with 10 of his 16 grandparents hailing from the Emerald Isle — has made no secret of his sympathy for the cause of Irish nationalism.
Biden greeted the Speaker of the Lower House of the Irish Parliament, Sean O’ Virgil, and the Speaker of the Senate, Jerry Botimer, upon his arrival at Leinster House.
Biden walks with Irish President Michael D. Higgins and his wife, Sabina Higgins, on the grounds of the Irish president’s official residence on Thursday
Biden will meet Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at Farmly House on Thursday
In the 1980s he called Britain’s position in Northern Ireland “absolutely outrageous” and argued against the deportation of IRA suspects from the United States to Britain.
In 1985 he told the Senate during a debate on a possible extradition treaty: “If we ratify this treaty, we will recognize that the justice system in Northern Ireland is just – a concept I absolutely hate.”
When he arrived in Ireland on Tuesday, Arlene Foster, formerly Northern Ireland’s first minister and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, told GB News that Biden ‘hates the UK’, and that he is ‘a pro-nationalist’.
She added, ‘I don’t think there is any doubt about that.
“And I think he’s coming here not putting any pressure on the Democratic Unionists at all, quite the opposite because a lot of people see him as pro-republican and pro-nationalist.”
On Wednesday, Biden was seen taking a walk in the Dundalk area before his trip to the pub
Biden takes a selfie after speaking at Ulster University on Wednesday morning
In response, Amanda Sloat, a senior White House aide, denied that Biden was against the UK.
“I think the president’s record shows that he is not anti-British,” she said on Wednesday.
The President has been very actively involved throughout his career dating back to when he was a Senator in the Northern Ireland peace process which has included engaging with leaders of all Northern Ireland parties from both major communities.
Sloat insisted that the United Kingdom remains one of the United States’ “closest allies” and that the two countries would continue to work together.
I think his message to the DUP and to all political leaders will be the continued strong support for seeing the peace process move forward here and the strong desire by this President to increase US investment in Northern Ireland to take advantage of the enormous opportunities. Economic potential that looks here.
Biden somewhat undercut her message hours later, when he spoke glowingly of someone who had “beaten the hell out of the Black and Tans” — a British militia, brought to Ireland to crack down on the cause of independence.
Biden seemed to mean the All Blacks — he was referring to an Irish rugby player who beat New Zealand — but some said the reference was a Freudian misstep.
Biden’s four-day trip to Ireland is officially scheduled to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
He landed in Belfast on Tuesday night, and met the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, in Belfast on Wednesday morning.
He spoke at the University of Ulster after meeting Sunak, then visited Carlingford, where his great-grandfather was born.
Accompanied by his sister Valerie and son Hunter, Biden then went to Kilwera Cemetery, where his ancestors are buried, before stopping at the pub in Dundalk.
On Thursday, Biden met President Michael D. Higgins in Dublin, addressing the Joint Session of Parliament before attending a dinner at Dublin Castle.
On Friday, the president will fly to County Mayo to visit Our Lady of Knock Shrine, and Family Heritage Center.
