Tony Blair's warning as Biden flies to Northern Ireland for talks

Sir Tony Blair warned against applying 'useless pressure' at the DUP to restore power sharing in Northern Ireland as Joe Biden flies to Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement

Sir Tony Blair warned against applying «useless pressure»; on the DUP to restore power sharing in Northern Ireland as Joe Biden flies to Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

The former Labor prime minister said that the involvement of the US president in the restoration and functioning of the devolved government is «positive». but «you must use American influence in the process with care and sensitivity.»

Mr Biden is due to meet with the leaders of all five of Northern Ireland's main political parties during his visit in a personal bid to restore power sharing in the province.

The Telegraph understands that the US President arranged the joint meeting in a bold attempt to help break the deadlock that has left Stormont without a functioning government for more than a year.

Sir Tony said " Americans can play a real role, but it must be done carefully, because there is a difference between influence and pressure.”

'Vain pressure'

He told BBC Radio 4 Today: "I think if we do it right, the involvement of the American president will be positive.

"By the right way, I mean, like I said, at the right moment and in the right place, because if people feel they are, and unions especially, one thing I've learned about unions is that that you are trying to put pressure on them. doing something they fundamentally disagree with is usually useless pressure, even if it comes from the US, so you just have to be careful about using that influence."

Police presence in downtown Belfast ahead of US President Joe Biden's arrival

The former prime minister said British-Irish relations were «ignored». in recent years.

“I think it has always been a very important way to keep everything together and on track. I had a very close relationship with the Irish government, we worked closely together as two countries inside Europe, frankly, and outside of the peace process.

“But also because the Irish government … obviously has influence over the European Union, and so when you're trying to resolve issues like the Northern Ireland Protocol, their impact on European negotiating positions is important.

"And if you're having difficulties on the border, which we had, then revitalizing these British-Irish relations… is very important."

' Leverage'

Sir Tony said the UK government has "lever" if the DUP continues to block the restoration of power sharing at Stormont, but stated that any such leverage should only be used «carefully».

“I suspect that senior management in the trade union community knows that it is wise to restore and run the executive branch and one of the important things is to recognize that there will be many different aspects of this and some of which it is probably inappropriate to go into in detail publicly,” he said.

"But it’s really a question, in the same way that the Northern Ireland Protocol issue was ultimately resolved, it needs to be worked on and worked on, until an agreement is reached"