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There would be no chance of a US-UK trade deal if there was any weakening of the Good Friday Agreement, a senior American politician has said.<\/p>\nThere would be no chance of a US-UK trade deal if there was any weakening of the Good Friday Agreement, a senior American politician has said.<\/p>\n
US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi told a packed lecture theater that the Good Friday Agreement was a model that could not be “bargained away in another agreement”.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the London School of Economics on Monday Ms Pelosi said passing a trade bill in Congress would be very hard and was “no given”.<\/p>\n
She added: “First of all it is very hard to pass a trade bill in the Congress of the United States, so it’s no given anyway.<\/p>\n
“But if there were any weakening of the Good Friday accords there would be no chance whatsoever, a non-starter for a US-UK trade agreement.<\/p>\n
“The Good Friday accords ended 700 years of conflict.<\/p>\n
“This is not a treaty only, it’s an ideal, it’s a value, it’s something that’s a model to the world, something that we all take pride in.<\/p>\n
“It was a model and other people have used it as a model and we don’t want that model to be something that can be bargained away in another agreement.”<\/p>\n
Ms Pelosi is to meet Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tanaiste Simon Coveney today as part of a two-day fact-finding visit by a congressional delegation from the US House of Representatives, which includes several members of the ‘Friends of Ireland’ caucus.<\/p>\n
Mr Varadkar says the visit is a good opportunity and is evidence of the deep and historic ties between Ireland and the US.<\/p>\n
The delegation will meet with the Taoiseach at Government Buildings this afternoon, following a lunch hosted by the T\u00e1naiste and culminating with a dinner hosted by Mr Varadkar tomorrow night at Dublin Castle.<\/p>\n