Northern Ireland police recover suspected pipe bombs ahead of Biden visit

He is meeting with Rishi Sunak. I wonder if they will be discussing Ukraine War and the Pentagon leaks. Isn't it rumored that the US and UK are more solid with continuing the war, whereas some of the other NATO members aren't as keen on the idea?


www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk...

The US president will carry out several other engagements across the week to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which largely brought an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland in 1998.

He will meet the Prime Minister again on Wednesday for a bilateral meeting.

The leaders of Northern Ireland’s main political parties will also have the opportunity to engage with Mr Biden before he delivers an address at Ulster University’s new £350 million Belfast campus.

The Stormont powersharing Assembly, which was established in the peace deal, is not currently operating due to a protest over post-Brexit trading arrangements by the DUP, the largest unionist party in Northern Ireland.

However, the White House said there will not be a formal group meeting with the leaders.

Mr Sunak will not attend Mr Biden’s keynote speech, with Downing Street on Tuesday denying that the engagement between the pair would be “low-key”.

Rishi Sunak (third right) at RAF Aldergrove (Clodagh Kilcoyne/PA)Speaking to reporters before his departure, Mr Biden said that his top priority was to “make sure the Irish accords and the Windsor Agreement stay in place, keep the peace”.

His son Hunter Biden and sister Valerie Biden Owen are believed to be accompanying him for the trip.

A major security operation will be in place for Mr Biden’s visit, with more than 300 officers from the rest of the UK being drafted into Northern Ireland.

a reply to: Freeborn

Didn’t it kind of revive some of the concerns when there was uncertainty about the borders?

Or has there always just been lingering issues that sometimes spark, and that was essentially not that big on the radar compared to other blips?

So they weren't after Brandon, and I was thinking how brute, all you need is patience.

a reply to: CriticalStinker

There has been 'lingering issues' for centuries.

The reality is that even during The Troubles the people in charge of the respective para-military organisations were more concerned with money and power than they were anything else.
They controlled their areas quite brutally and engaged in all sorts of racketeering, extortion and gangsterism.
Opposing groups conspired with each other in both drug and gun smuggling and respected each other's areas.

There is a resentment that The Good Friday Agreement massively reduced their power and control and they seek to manipulate people's emotions to bring back the bad days of The Troubles.

Recently a senior PSNI officer was shot whilst he was off-duty coaching an under-15 football team.
Suspicion immediately fell on the Real IRA - one of the Republican terrorist groups trying to send Northern Ireland back to The Dark Ages - and they subsequently claimed responsibility.
However, what was immediately hushed up were the reports that the gunmen who carried out the attack were in fact known Unionist para-militaries who had well known 'links' to their Republican counterparts.

Now why would that be?

a reply to: Freeborn

You speak the truth.

originally posted by: Oldcarpy2
a reply to: MykeNukem

It's what these scumbags do, I'm afraid. Nowhere near where Biden is visiting .

Its the 25th anniversary of the peace agreement.

Some idiots want to wreck it.

They are now nothing more than criminal gangsters making money out of drugs, protection rackets and the rest.

They are targeting the Irish Police who want to stop their criminal activities.

Biden, however, probably is just after the US Irish vote.

Yea, that's what it sounds like.

Just trying to cause sh#t for everyone.

a reply to: MykeNukem

Exactly.

What's left of the old terrorists ( on both sides) are now organized criminals.

Vast majority of Irish folk wish they'd just bugger off.

originally posted by: Oldcarpy2
a reply to: chris_stibrany

It's quite a big country, actually.

Londonderry is 70 miles from Belfast, I used to drive 70 miles back and forth from work every day.

Not suggesting anything will happen, considering the terrorist threat level is severe though, thought it was worth discussing

www.cnn.com...

The terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland has been raised from “substantial” to “severe” just days before a potential visit to the country by US President Joe Biden, but the White House has said the change won’t alter his plans.

The decision to raise the threat level to “severe,” meaning an attack is highly likely, was made by the UK’s MI5 security service and announced by UK Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris on Tuesday.

Heaton-Harris said the move was made after an increase in “activity relating to Northern Ireland-related terrorism” including the attempted murder of a high-profile police officer last month. While the public should remain vigilant, they should not be alarmed, he said.

Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell was shot several times by masked men in front of his son and other children at sports complex in Omagh, County Tyrone, in late February.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland’s (PSNI) Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan said at the time that the force’s primary focus was on “violent dissident republicans,” and a number of people have been arrested since the attack.

a reply to: putnam6

Absolutely.

a reply to: CriticalStinker

Just to elaborate slightly; there is some festering resentment over the unnecessarily complicated border agreement made as a result of Brexit,
This is more targeted towards the incompetent half-wits in Westminster, the non-stop bickering between the different parties in Stormont and the unelected eurocrats in Brussels and Strasbourg who are more concerned with pushing their own respective political agendas rather than putting the best interests of the Irish people, both North and South of the border, first.

a reply to: Freeborn

And a fair amount of pig headed stubbornness on both sides.

a reply to: Freeborn

Thanks for the breakdown.

Definitely felt less sterilized than the take we get across the pond.

People lose sight of all the scars and focus on the present. These issues are incredibly nuanced, and it’s hard to get a good grasp on why they remain contested.

Its got absolutely nothing to do with Biden's visit and everything to do with what Freeborn is talking about.

Good stuff mate i couldnt have said it any better

originally posted by: infolurker
a reply to: putnam6

Ummmm...

70 miles away?

Yeah, probably has zero to do with the Biden visit. Can they stick it on some conservative group or for propoganda?

This reminds me of I think 2021 when the media claimed a "gunman" was arrested in DC trying to attack VP Kamala Harris. Just a few problems with the narrative:

1. The guy was arrested blocks away from the VP's residence compound, which is a secured compound that he had no way into.

2. He wasn't actively running around with a gun, he just had a gun on him (might have even been in his car, I don't remember) so it was ludicrous characterizing him as a "gunman."

3. Harris wasn't even there because the VP residence was being remodeled, and that was public knowledge at the time. Any nutjob who was specifically targeting Harris would've learned that when he was doing his research about where to find her.

4. There was never any indication that he was actually targeting Harris and there were never any follow-up stories adding more details. He was just a guy arrested with a gun in DC.

In other words, this was a routine arrest that had absolutely nothing to do with the VP but the media just wanted a story about how the first black VP was already being targeted so they made most of the details up.

They do the same thing with school shootings. Any shooting that happens near a school, even if it's blocks away, gets counted as a school shooting. Someone gets shot at 2am in a school parking lot when the school is closed for summer? "School shooting."

We have no independent media here anymore. There's a vast swath of Democrat media and a few Republican media outlets. That's it.

Belfast seems kind of jumpy if you ask me...

www.msn.com...

Police document detailing President Biden's security information found on Belfast street

BELFAST, Northern Ireland – Ahead of President Joe Biden's speech here Wednesday, local police lost a document that detailed sensitive security information related to the president's visit.


A local resident is believed to have found the document on a street in Belfast, a U.S. law enforcement official said, confirming the authenticity of the paper on the condition of anonymity.

The document contained names of Belfast police and postings, but nothing related to the Secret Service's operations, which oversees the president's security during foreign trips, or its security plans.


The security breach came as the terrorism threat in Northern Ireland was considered "severe" for Biden's visit to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which ended three decades of civil war in Northern Ireland.

Secret Service's future: Secret Service fights to shed politics, but Trump's indictment, 2024 election are major tests

Most of Belfast's city center was barricaded off to residents for protection in a city with a long history of violence.

Despite the breach, the U.S. Secret Service expressed continued trust in local authorities.
"The Police Service of Northern Ireland informed the Secret Service of media reports regarding a potentially sensitive document, which may contain law-enforcement material," the agency said. "While we do not discuss the specifics of any protective operation, the president’s movements were not affected by these reports."

Jocelyn Keaveny, the Secret Service's special agent-in-charge of the Paris Field Office who is overseeing the Biden visit, called the Police Service of Northern Ireland a "dedicated partner" in the security effort.

"The Secret Service relies on partnerships to provide the highest level of dignitary protection in the world," Keaveny said. "We remain grateful for their ongoing support during the president’s visit."

The Police Service of Northern Ireland described the local security operation as the largest in a decade, involving nearly 3,000 officers.

www.belfastlive.co.uk...

Biden's Belfast visit: Mum on 'terrifying' moment driver 'drove toward crowd' waiting on President

A Northern Ireland mum has told of the 'terrifying' moment a lorry driver allegedly 'drove on the wrong side of the road towards a crowd' in Co Antrim.

The crowd were waiting to see a glimpse of US President Joe Biden's car as he left RAF Aldergrove after landing in Northern Ireland.

The incident happened on Tuesday night, April 11 near Belfast International Airport.

Read more: Recap on US President Joe Biden's Belfast visit

Police said they have "arrested a man on suspicion of dangerous driving after he failed to stop at a vehicle checkpoint which was in place to facilitate the Presidential cavalcade on the Ballyrobin Road, Crumlin on Tuesday, 11th April."

A PSNI spokesperson added: "The 49-year-old man was driving a lorry which was seen to be progressing on the wrong side of the road just before 9.50pm.

"Officers safely stopped the vehicle and the driver was instructed to dismount and hand over his keys.

"The man has since been bailed to allow for further police enquiries."