BELFAST: A lawmaker from Northern Ireland’s biggest pro-UK party on Thursday condemned Joe Biden after the US president made contentious remarks about his recent visit to the territory.

Biden said the purpose of his trip last month was “to make sure... the Brits didn’t screw around” with peace in Northern Ireland, and “didn’t walk away from their commitments”.

The comments, relayed in a White House transcript, came as Biden addressed a Democratic party gathering in New York on Wednesday.

Biden visited Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, which ended three decades of violence in the UK province, with US mediation.

During the visit, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) lawmaker Sammy Wilson accused the Irish-American president of being “anti-British”, and he was angered by the latest intervention.

“If you believe that there should be a special relationship between the US and UK then at least show us some respect,” Wilson told London’s Evening Standard newspaper.

“It’s unbelievable and frightening as well to think this is the man who is the leader of the free world,” he added.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2023