One of the leading politicians in the US has made a clear promise to help block any US-UK trade deal unless the Good Friday Agreement is protected.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi is in Ireland on a ‘fact-finding’ visit, and will address the Oireachtas.
Ms Pelosi had previously visited Britain and spoken with several politicians including the leader of the Labour party Jeremy Corbyn.
The border between Northern Ireland and Ireland has been a source of much debate around the discussions of Brexit.
Ms Pelosi recently spoke at the London School of Economics. She said: “We made it clear to all, if there is any harm to the Good Friday accord, no (trade) treaty.
“I have to say though every single person, including Theresa May who we spoke to on the phone, everyone said don’t even worry about that, it is unthinkable that we would even go there.”
Ms Pelosi has frequently clashed with President Trump about policies.
The President has tweeted his support of Brexit in the past, and added: “My Administration looks forward to negotiating a large scale Trade Deal with the United Kingdom. The potential is unlimited!”
However, Ms Pelosi has promised she will fight against any deal between the two countries if the Good Friday Agreement is not upheld.
She added that the US and the EU should be strengthening their relationship to benefit both parties regarding world trade deals.
She said: “I thought one of the biggest opportunities was for the US and the EU to join together – the biggest market in the world, the two combined – and use that leverage in negotiations with the Chinese.
“So I wasn’t pleased when the president put tariffs on the EU because you kind of started to weaken that strength vis-a-vis China.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar spoke ahead of the meeting with Ms Pelosi: “This visit is more evidence of the deep and historic ties between our two countries and is a good opportunity to further deepen US-Ireland bilateral relations.
“We will discuss a range of issues including trade, visas, immigration and Brexit.”
Written by Andrew Moore