Police operation for Joe Biden visit and Good Friday Agreement anniversary events will cost £7million

A major operation to police a series of events around the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement will cost around £7 million and see 300 police officers travel from other parts of the UK to Northern Ireland.

The White House confirmed this week that Mr Biden would visit the island of Ireland next week, with his visit beginning in Belfast to coincide with the anniversary of the historic peace deal.

Mr Byrne confirmed that Mr Biden would arrive in Northern Ireland on Tuesday evening and leave on Wednesday during a briefing to the Policing Board in Belfast.

“Engagements have been planned for a number of parts of the Greater Belfast area and the Prime Minister is also expected to visit Northern Ireland during this time,” he said.

Mr Byrne added: “The arrival of the Prime Minister and the President… will be a significant operation of a size that we won’t have seen in Northern Ireland since the G8 in 2013, and indeed elements of the operation will actually be more impactful than we saw then."

While no official details of the trip have been released, the BBC has reported that Mr Biden will only be visiting one venue in NI – Ulster University, to open its new £350m campus in Belfast.

Chris Heaton-Harris said that Joe Biden’s decision not to visit to Stormont while in Northern Ireland was not a missed opportunity.

“I genuinely don’t see it as that and I am genuinely pleased he’s coming to Northern Ireland, I’d hate to think what his schedule looks like,” the Secretary of State said.

“I’m pleased he’s made the time to come here. I know he also wants to visit other things in Ireland and family, as I say, but let’s make the most of his visit and make it a really positive event on the trajectory of Northern Ireland’s peace and continued peace, stability, and actually prosperity as well.”

Mr Biden will also visit Dublin – during which he will address Irish parliamentarians – as well as Co Louth and Co Mayo, where Mr Biden’s ancestors hail from.

The scheduled events end on Friday in Co Mayo, where Mr Biden is expected to give an address in Ballina.

Irish deputy premier and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin has rejected a suggestion that the schedule of the US president’s engagements on the island of Ireland represented a “snub” to Northern Ireland.

“When the president of the United States comes to any location, I don’t think it can be described as that.

“I think it’s something to be welcomed, I think it’s very positive that President Biden is coming to Northern Ireland.

“I know from my contacts with the White House, in my discussions with President Biden, he’s very committed to the peace process, the Good Friday Agreement, and he’s particularly focused on the potential for economic development here.”

Mr Martin said the president would be in Northern Ireland on Tuesday night and spend “the bulk of Wednesday” there.

“People are envious of the commitment of President Biden to Ireland, to the entire island of Ireland.

“And I think his visit to Northern Ireland is a manifestation of his genuine commitment to the people of Northern Ireland.”