The Irish Times view on St Patrick’s Day in Washington: a US push on Northern Ireland

The Irish-American relationship is in focus on St Patrick’s Day as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar visits the White House. It is a long tradition, giving access to Irish taoisigh to the US president of the day and marking a deep relationship which has developed over many years. This was underlined by the announcement that Joe Biden, an American president with Irish roots, is to visit Ireland next month.

There is a wider context, too, to the visit and to this year’s St Patrick’s Day events. The US was a significant player in the Belfast Agreement and Biden’s trip to coincide with the 25th anniversary of its signing underlines the political importance of this in Washington. It also signals US support for the new Windsor Framework agreed to try to sort out the problems of the Northern Ireland protocol.

However, DUP concerns about the protocol and the framework threaten to scupper plans to get the institutions agreed as part of the Belfast Agreement re-established. The DUP will not give its final judgment for some time, but party leader Jeffrey Donaldson has again this week expressed his party’s concerns about aspects of the agreement. The EU and UK may proceed anyway, but with the Stormont institutions then on hold a host of other questions arise and, crucially, there is no return to political stability.

With Donaldson also in Washington this week, a key message around the celebrations in Washington is the potential economic upsides of the new framework being implemented and normal politics restored. A wave of American investment is promised, attracted by the dual access for goods to the UK and EU markets. Tánaiste Micheál Martin said Northern Ireland could be in line for a " decade of investment.”

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While private investment will largely go where it can get a return, rather than where politicians direct it, there is no doubt that political backing is also a factor. Northern Ireland’s politicians could also push for investment funds to develop education and publicly funded research. There is goodwill, in other words, in Washington, London, Dublin and Brussels to try to make this work – and that can yield a significant dividend.

However, whether the political stability to unlock all this can be delivered remains unclear. Donaldson has complained in Washington about a Sinn Féin advertising campaign in US newspapers seeking a Border poll on Irish unity. These are hardly surprising, if not very well judged.

Post-Brexit, there is no going back to the way things were. Northern Ireland’s politicians will be encouraged in Washington to seize the opportunities provided by the amended protocol. It would be a mistake on their part to let this chance slip. Politicians in all the main parties in Northern Ireland need to reflect on the importance of what happens next.