US National Security Council senior director for Europe Amanda Sloat said Joe Biden was not “kept away” from people in Northern Ireland, adding that it was a “briefer stop” than his visit to the Republic of Ireland.
“The president had the opportunity to engage with the leaders of the parties ahead of the speech and others.
“I can say, as one who sat in the motorcade for about an hour before we left after the speech, the president was on the rope line in Belfast for I think almost an hour, engaging with virtually everybody, it seemed, that was sitting there.”
