Biden state visit to UK ‘being considered for 2023’

Diplomatic sources believe the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement would be an ideal time for Joe Biden

(PA) (PA Wire)

British diplomats are eyeing a first state visit for US president Joe Biden linked to the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement next year.

The King would host Mr Biden around the time of a possible European trip for celebrations of the 1998 peace deal that helped end 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland.

Mr Biden, vocally proud of his roots in Ireland and the US’s role in brokering the agreement, would likely be keen to visit the island of Ireland to mark the anniversary.

Joe Biden visited the UK for the G7 summit in 2021 (Leon Neal/PA) (PA Archive)

Diplomatic sources said it would be an ideal moment to invite Mr Biden for a state visit.

But there were concerns raised over the level of the celebrations, with the Northern Ireland Executive established by the agreement currently collapsed.

The UK Government was remaining optimistic that power-sharing could get back up and running by the anniversary.

Joe Biden met the Queen during his 2021 trip to the UK but it was not a full state visit (Chris Jackson/PA) (PA Wire)

Liz Truss was meeting the US president at a United Nations summit in New York on Wednesday.

But she was not afforded the White House visit that Boris Johnson was treated to last year, with officials blaming the tight timescale of Ms Truss’s trip.

Mr Biden did meet the Queen at Windsor Castle after visiting Cornwall for the G7 summit in June last year, but it was not the full pomp and ceremony of a state visit.

His predecessor Donald Trump received a state visit in 2019.