Joe Biden: US president confirms visit to Northern Ireland

US President Joe Biden will begin a four-day trip to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in Belfast on 11 April, the White House has confirmed.

President Biden is travelling to mark the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

He will also hold various engagements in Dublin, County Louth, and County Mayo.

Mr Biden is also expected to meet Irish President Michael D Higgins.

In a statement, the White House said the President will travel to the United Kingdom and Ireland from 11-14 April adding that the trip would mark "the tremendous progress since the signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement 25 years ago".

Irish broadcaster RTÉ has reported the official visit may include government receptions for President Biden at Farmleigh House and Dublin Castle.

It is also believed the US president will attend the Irish presidential residence, Áras an Uachtaráin, to meet Michael D Higgins.

White House spokesperson John Kirby said it was expected that President Biden would address the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) on Thursday.

He will become the fourth US president to do so, following President John F Kennedy on 28 June 1963, President Ronald Reagan on 4 June 1984 and President Bill Clinton on 1 December 1995.

It has also been confirmed that President Biden will be in County Mayo on Friday, where he will speak at an event outside St Muredach's Cathedral, Ballina.

Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Leo Varadkar said he was "delighted" that President Biden would be visiting Ireland.

"When we spoke recently in the White House, President Biden was clear that in celebrating the Good Friday Agreement, we should be looking ahead, not backwards," he said.

He said the involvement of the United States and of President Biden personally had been "essential to the peace process in Ireland".

"From its earliest uncertain beginnings to the making of the Good Friday Agreement, in good days and bad, the US has always been at our side," said Mr Varadkar.

"So it's fitting that President Biden will be here to mark this significant milestone with us."

President John F Kennedy visited Ireland in June 1963, including a trip to his family's ancestral home in County Wexford. Mr Kennedy referred to this visit as "the best four days of his life'" and it occurred five months before his assassination.

In June 1984, President Ronald Reagan travelled to Ireland, and gave a speech in the village of Ballyporeen in County Tipperary, his ancestral home.

In November 1995, President Bill Clinton travelled to Belfast, Londonderry, Armagh and Omagh, becoming the first US president to visit Northern Ireland.

Mr Clinton would return to Northern Ireland again on 3 September 1998, five months after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement and just a month after the Omagh bombing.

Mr Clinton gave his sympathies to the bereaved families and called for a new peace to be built following the agreement.

He also visited Armagh for a special Gathering for Peace on the Mall, where thousands turned out to hear them speak.

In 2000, nearing the end of his time as president, Mr Clinton once more returned to Northern Ireland as part of his farewell tour.

In April 2003, President George W Bush visited Northern Ireland to hold talks over the political process in the country and the war in Iraq.

In June 2008, Mr Bush made a one-day stop in Northern Ireland during his European farewell trip as his presidency came to an end.

The president was welcomed at Stormont Castle by then first and deputy first ministers Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness.

In May 2011, President Barack Obama visited Ireland, including a stop at Moneygall in County Offaly where his great-great-great-grandfather came from.

President Obama arrived in Northern Ireland in June 2013 to attended the G8 summit, which was being held County Fermanagh.

He also spoke to an audience at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, saying the road to a lasting peace in Northern Ireland was "as urgent now as it has ever been".

For more on US presidential visits to Northern Ireland click here.

In 2016, Joe Biden visited the Republic of Ireland during his time as vice president, and went on a tour of his ancestral home in County Mayo.

Last week, the president said he still planned to visit Northern Ireland despite MI5's decision to increase the terrorism threat level to "severe".

During next week's visit the president will hold various engagements in the Republic of Ireland, including those in Dublin, County Louth and County Mayo, where he will "deliver an address to celebrate the deep, historic ties that link our countries and people."

Former US President Bill Clinton, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern are among those expected to visit Northern Ireland for commemorative events.

Both Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University (UU) are hosting events to mark the anniversary

Large, silent video portraits of the 14 politicians who negotiated the peace deal will be displayed at UU's Belfast campus from 15 to 20 April.

The university is also launching a new leadership programme, a tourism summit and an education project.

Further details of President Biden's trip have yet to be released.

Want to know more about the 1998 agreement?

Declan Harvey and Tara Mills explore the text of the Good Friday Agreement, scrutinising the deal's wording and hearing from some of the people who helped get it across the line.

Click here to listen on BBC Sounds.