Biden administration signals greater mobility between Ireland and US

The Biden administration has signalled that it backs greater travel and work mobility between Ireland the United States including summer work for student.

A senior administration figure said on Friday that there was great hope and enthusiasm on both sides to be able to return to some degree of the travel and engagement that existed prior to the Covid-19 pandemic including summer work travel for students.

The administration believes that comprehensive immigration legislation in the United States should be the vehicle for dealing with facilitating more Irish people to live and work in America

Two US senators on Thursday tabled bipartisan legislation aimed at allowing Ireland to avail of surplus visas to live and work in America that were originally allocated to Australia.

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A senior administration figure said future developments regarding what is known as the E3 visa programme would be a matter for the US Congress.

Earlier this week senior Democrats in the House of Representatives again insisted there would be no bilateral UK-US trade agreement if the Belfast Agreement was undermined in any way following Brexit.

The administration would not be drawn on what the attitude of the White House would be to any trade deal with the UK if Democrats lose control of the House of Representatives in mid term elections next November.

Northern Ireland

A senior administration figure stressed the commitment of President Biden to the Belfast Agreement and said he had raised the issue of Northern Ireland in almost all his meetings with British prime minister Boris Johnson.

A senior administration figure said the bulk of the conversation between Mr Biden and Taoiseach Micheál Martin on Thursday centred on Ukraine.

Mr Biden is understood to have expressed gratitude to Ireland for supporting the robust sanctions imposed on Russia and was cognisant of the impact some of these measures were having on parts of the Irish economy.

A senior administration figure also said the president had praised the humanitarian efforts made by Irish people to help Ukrainian refugees.