US VICE PRESIDENT Mike Pence will voice the United States’ commitment to the Good Friday Agreement when he visits Ireland next month.
The Republican will travel to Ireland on Friday 6 September following visits to Iceland and Britain, the White House has confirmed.
Pence was invited to visit by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar during the traditional St Patrick’s Day breakfast in Washington, DC in March.
During the visit the vice president will voice the United States’ “commitment to maintaining peace, prosperity, and stability in Ireland by upholding the Good Friday Agreement”, the White House said.
The statement comes at a time when the accord is increasingly under the microscope as the Brexit deadline looms.
In recent days Trump’s national security advisor John Bolton said the UK would be “first in line” for a trade deal after it exits the European Union.
That was rebuffed yesterday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the most senior Democrat on Capitol Hill, who said there is no chance of Congress approving a trade agreement if Brexit undermines the agreement.
Pence’s visit comes hot on the heels of President Trump’s trip to Clare in June, while Pelosi also visited in April.
The vice president has visited Ireland several times since the early 1980s, often travelling with members of his family.
The 60-year old has Irish roots as his grandfather, Richard Michael Cawley, hailed from Tubbercurry in Co Sligo. He emigrated to the US in the 1920s.
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