Michelle O'Neill says meeting with US President Joe Biden was 'hugely beneficial'

Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister and Mid Ulster MLA Michelle O'Neill has described as "hugely beneficial" meeting with President of the United States, Joe Biden and Vice- President Kamala Harris on St Patrick's Day.
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She said the meeting both reaffirmed their unequivocal support for the Irish peace process and full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

Ms O'Neill said: “I thanked them both for their continued political support and emphasised the valued role played by the US administration since the Clinton era.

“Given the unjust reality where the north no longer has a place in the European Union, our future relationship with Britain itself is now legitimately the focus of widespread public and political discourse as we look to the future of this island.

Mid Ulster MLA Michelle O'Neill.Mid Ulster MLA Michelle O'Neill.
Mid Ulster MLA Michelle O'Neill.

"I have no doubt history will conclude that Brexit was an own goal for this Conservative government, and their allies.

“We are now seeing evidence of an unacceptable direct rule approach being taken by the British government. This is circumventing and undermining the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement and power-sharing and cannot be ignored.

“I acknowledged and welcomed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s bipartisan resolution passed yesterday which expressed full support for the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, and no hard border in Ireland. It also insists that any new US/UK trade agreement must take into account, conditions requiring that obligations under the Good Friday Agreement are met.

“I invited both President Biden and Vice-President Harris to visit the North when both sides of the Atlantic overcome the Covid-19 global health pandemic, and together recover and rebuild our societies and economies."

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