UK: Northern Ireland police warn of possible disorder ahead of visit by US president

Northern Ireland’s police service has issued an advance warning of potential public disorder caused by dissident Irish republicans in the region. The warning came ahead of the visit by US President Joe Biden.

The BBC reported last week that the Police Service of Northern Ireland warned of a potential public disturbance by Republicans in the region. Northern Ireland Chief Constable Simon Byrne said during a briefing, according to the BBC, that the potential public disturbance by those who use violent means to oppose the region’s place in the United Kingdom might be an attempt to draw police officers into gun or bomb attacks. Byrne said that the PSNI made temporary changes to work shifts to put more officers on frontline duties.

Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said the PSNI had information that potential attacks would be carried out in Londonberry, a city close to the border with the Republic of Ireland. The warning by the authorities in Northern Ireland comes ahead of Biden’s visit as the US leader will be in attendance to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of political violence in the region.

Attacks by small groups in the region have been sporadic. Back in February, Northern Ireland Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell was shot by two gunmen, which the police expected was done by the New Irish Republican Army, a militant group that wants to merge Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland.

On Sunday, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said he intends to increase efforts with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to restore the power-sharing government in Northern Ireland in the hopes of breaking the political deadlock in its assembly. The Democratic Unionist Party has said it will stop its boycott of the assembly in protest of the post-Brexit trade rules between the UK and the European Union that would prevent a hard border with EU member Ireland.

The DUP said it would not stop its boycott unless changes are made to the new trade deal, also known as the Windsor Framework. London has also said it will not be open for renegotiation.

“We put a huge amount of effort in the last few months into getting an agreement on revisions and reforms to the protocol,” Varadkar told RTE, referring to the old name for the agreement, the Northern Ireland Protocol.

“The next piece now is deep engagement with the British government and also the five parties in Northern Ireland to try and get the institutions up and running again and certainly over the next few weeks I’ll be intensifying my contacts with Prime Minister Sunak.”