MOST people over 40 will easily recall December 1995 when President Bill Clinton first visited Belfast. While many of his predecessors made trips to the Republic, President Clinton was the first 'leader of the free world' to come to the north. He arrived for the first time little over a year after the IRA and CLMC ceasefires, a time of optimism and muted expectation. Crowds greeted the presidential cavalcade wherever it stopped on a busy schedule that sought to be as inclusive as possible, including an apparent impromptu handshake with Gerry Adams on the Falls Road. It was a time of celebration, when thousands gathered outside city hall to see the president turn on the Christmas lights. President Clinton went on to play a key role in securing peace and subsequently returned on numerous occasions.
Perhaps spurred by the céad míle fáilte Bill Clinton received north of the border, some of his successors followed suit. George W Bush made two relatively low-key visits in 2003 and 2008, before Barack Obama enjoyed a typically more high-profile trip in 2013, including an appearance before an invited audience at Belfast's Waterfront Hall, ahead of attending the G8 summit in Co Fermanagh.
Follow live: Joe Biden's visit to Ireland
There's been months of speculation about Joe Biden's visit and whether the absence of the Stormont institutions meant he'd give Northern Ireland a miss this time around, focussing instead on his ancestral homelands south of the border in Co Louth and Co Mayo. US presidents and their advisers are keen to avoid anything with negative associations and coming to Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement when the institutions are lying dormant isn't something you'd be inclined to boast about. Agreement on the Windsor Framework some six weeks ago offered hope that the political deadlock would be broken but the DUP is continuing to dither, seemingly unable to make up its mind on the revised post-Brexit trade arrangements at least until after next month's local government elections.
Yet despite the downbeat backdrop, President Biden has decided to briefly stop over in Belfast. There'll be no formal reception from first and deputy first ministers, and instead the president will be met off Air Force One by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. There'll be no presidential address to the Stormont assembly, and any meetings with party leaders will be brief and private, while Mr Biden's one scheduled public appearance will be at Ulster University, where he is expected to perform the official opening of the new Belfast campus. No doubt there'll be some, albeit limited engagement with civic society, but the heavy security belies what is overall a muted and understated visit – none what we've come to expect from previous presidential visit.
The inability to exploit President Biden's visit for both political and economic purposes is undoubtedly a missed opportunity, and blame for that lies squarely with the DUP, a party all at sea since 2016. Rather than handshakes and united fronts, the images beamed across the world will be of teenagers throwing petrol bombs and burning wheelie bins, a narrative of political vacuum on the anniversary of the peace deal replacing that of hope and stability.
