President Biden appointed the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy to serve as special envoy to Northern Ireland for economic affairs.
According to a US State Department press release, Joseph Kennedy III will focus on boosting economic development and investment opportunities in the region, while strengthening ties between the US and Northern Ireland.
Joseph Kennedy III, son of former U.S. Representative Joseph P. Kennedy II and grandson of the late Robert F. Kennedy, gestures while visiting voters in front of a polling station in Needham, Massachusetts, Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012. The Kennedy, The 31-year-old is vying for the House seat to be vacated by US Democratic Rep. Barney Frank. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
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Kennedy served eight years in the House of Representatives, worked as an assistant district attorney in Massachusetts and volunteered for the Peace Corps.
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“He will draw on his extensive experience to support economic growth in Northern Ireland and deepen America’s engagement with all communities,” the statement read. “In parallel, US diplomats in Europe and Washington will continue to engage with political leaders in efforts to restore the Northern Ireland Executive and resolve differences over the Northern Ireland Protocol.”
While the Biden administration paints the Kennedy appointment as strengthening ties between the US and Northern Ireland, others see this as a move to interfere with talks between the European Union and Britain.
Biden delivered a bug-filled speech in Delaware on Friday.
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The appointment also comes at a time when tensions are high between Washington and London over the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which would dictate trade regulations.
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There are also fears that Kennedy’s record of being pro-Irish will tarnish his ability to remain fair and honest in his new role.
“I think it’s a hugely destructive move by the Biden White House,” Nile Gardiner, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, told Fox News. “Former Congressman Joe Kennedy has a long record of pro-Irish nationalist statements, and he will not be acting here as an honest broker or a neutral figure, and for good reason. Sinn Fein are already elated by the news because they know that having a key ally in this position”.
Sinn Fein is an Irish Democratic and Republican Socialist Party, to which Kennedy is allegedly linked.
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“This is a staggeringly bad decision by the Biden presidency and will result in a great level of mistrust in any involvement of the Biden administration in Northern Ireland affairs,” Gardiner added. “Biden has once again stabbed Britain in the back and by making this appointment he is deliberately slapping unionists in Northern Ireland.”
