[Express UK] Sir Tony Blair has warned against putting "futile pressure" on the DUP to return to powersharing at Stormont ahead of Joe Biden's visit to Northern Ireland.The former prime minister spoke of the importance of using "the American influence on the process with care and with sensitivity".
The ex-Labour leader told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "The Americans can play a real role but it's something that you need to do carefully because there's a difference between influencing and pressurising and the one tends to be positive and the other can be negative.
"One thing I learned about the unionist is if you try and pressurise them to do something that they're fundamentally in disagreement with, it's usually futile pressure, even if it comes from the US, so you've got to use that influence carefully."
The US President is due to arrive in Belfast this evening for the four-day trip to Northern Ireland and Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
Mr Biden is expected to meet members of Stormont's main political parties as part of a visit he said will underscore his nation's "commitment to preserving peace and encouraging prosperity" in Northern Ireland.
Related:
Tony Blair: 2023-02-25 Surveillance State: Tony Blair and Ex-Tory Leader Call for Chinese Communist-Style Digital ID
Tony Blair: 2022-12-30 Knighthoods are being given to those the UK state wants to protect from prosecution
Tony Blair: 2022-11-29 Analysis: What in the Actual F‐ Is Wrong With These People?
Tony Blair: 2023-02-25 Surveillance State: Tony Blair and Ex-Tory Leader Call for Chinese Communist-Style Digital ID
Tony Blair: 2022-12-30 Knighthoods are being given to those the UK state wants to protect from prosecution
Tony Blair: 2022-11-29 Analysis: What in the Actual F‐ Is Wrong With These People?