BRITISH leaders often speak with pride of the 'special relationship' enjoyed with the US.
Long historical ties bind the nations politically and economically, with Boris Johnson no doubt hoping this will expedite a post-Brexit trade deal.
But what President Joe Biden's first international trip since entering the White House has demonstrated is that the real special relationship is with Ireland and its people.
Tens of millions of Americans and more than 20 US presidents claim Irish ancestry and the country has proved itself an indispensable friend throughout the peace process.
And it is protection of that peace, which US diplomat George Mitchell helped broker, that appears to have been at the forefront of Mr Biden's mind as he arrived in England.
The president is in Cornwall at the start of a packed schedule that includes a G7 meeting of world leaders, summits with NATO and the EU, and talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
It is remarkable in that context that Ireland, and Northern Ireland in particular, has dominated headlines as the US administration seeks to use its influence to help resolve the latest Brexit stand-off.
Mr Biden, who even quoted from the WB Yeats poem Easter 1916 during an address to US troops this week, has reportedly impressed on Mr Johnson the need to ensure the Good Friday Agreement is not undermined by a row over implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol, which has created a trade border in the Irish Sea.
The latest weapon in this sham fight with the EU is the British sausage, with the UK refusing to rule out the possibility that it could delay imposing checks on chilled meats travelling into the north.
The dispute has once again highlighted the monumental folly of the
decision by Britain to leave the European Union, as the empty rhetoric that accompanied its pursuit of a hard Brexit repeatedly meets economic realities and threatens the delicate peace in Ireland.
However, Mr Biden's visit has helpfully pointed to one possible route out of the current mess.
It has been suggested that if the UK agreed to follow EU rules on agricultural standards - at a stroke making the Irish Sea border practically invisible - the president would ensure it would not "negatively affect the chances of reaching a US/UK free trade deal".
This injection of common sense into the Brexit debacle is hugely welcome and bodes well for the future as Mr Biden begins to make his presence felt on the international stage.
