US President Joe Biden expected to visit only one NI venue

Joe Biden will arrive in Belfast on 11 April

US President Joe Biden is due to attend just one event during his visit to Northern Ireland, the BBC understands.

He had been invited to Stormont with the possibility of addressing politicians to mark 25 years since the Good Friday peace agreement.

It was understood a visit to Queen's University Belfast was also considered.

But while no official details of his trip have been released BBC News NI understands it will involve just one engagement at Ulster University.

Mr Biden is due to open its new £350m campus in Belfast.

The US president will also address business and civic leaders and may hold talks with the political parties on 12 April.

He is expected to leave Northern Ireland by early afternoon and travel to the Republic of Ireland for the remainder of his stay.

It is believed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will also be in Northern Ireland for President Biden's visit.

On Thursday Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd said the visit would require a security operation on a scale not seen in Northern Ireland since the G8 summit in 2013.

'Disappointing'

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said he did not believe Mr Biden's the brief stay in Northern Ireland was a snub.

He said that people should "make the most" of the visit and ensure it was a "positive event".

Tánaiste (Irish Deputy Prime Minister) Micheál Martin said Mr Biden's visit to Belfast would be a "manifestation of his genuine commitment to the people of Northern Ireland".

"There are many countries across the EU that would love a visit from the American president," he said.

"People are envious of the commitment of President Biden to Ireland, the entire island of Ireland."

But Ulster Unionist assembly member Mike Nesbitt said it was disappointing that Mr Biden would not be visiting Stormont.

"One consequence of not having Stormont up and running is that the president of the US is not prepared to visit [the assembly]," he said.

He added that the visit would be a subdued one, a stark contrast to the first trip undertaken by former US President Bill Clinton to Northern Ireland during the peace process in 1995.

Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O'Neill said she was looking forward to welcoming President Biden to Belfast, adding that the US was a "strong partner for peace, stability and economic progress".

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) MP Claire Hanna said she the brevity of Mr Biden's the trip was understandable given the political situation at Stormont.

It was billed and timed as a presidential visit to mark and celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

But it may not feel like that when Joe Biden's cavalcade rolls out of Northern Ireland on Wednesday afternoon.

That is because it now appears the Northern Ireland leg of the visit will involve just one event that will last a matter of hours.

A visit to Stormont has been ruled out and a visit to Queen's University Belfast appears to have slipped off the agenda.

But should we be surprised?

The Good Friday Agreement may be 25 years old but with no Stormont or power-sharing executive the optics are not good.

The White House may have opted to focus more on the Republic of Ireland as President Biden tours his ancestral roots in counties Louth and Mayo.

BBC News NI understands that Joe Kennedy III, the US special envoy for Northern Ireland, will accompany President Biden on his visit.

It will be his first trip to Northern Ireland since taking up the post of special envoy in December.

He will stay in Northern Ireland for several days after President Biden travels to the Republic of Ireland, it is understood.

Joe Kennedy III's time in Northern Ireland will include a visit to the north-west

In his role as special envoy Mr Kennedy has been given a brief to attract US investment to Northern Ireland.

Speaking to BBC News NI in Washington last month, Mr Kennedy said the presidential visit would help "galvanise momentum" when it comes to attracting new investment.

Mr Kennedy also urged people in Northern Ireland to judge him on his actions and not his family ties.

He is a grandson of the murdered US senator Robert F Kennedy and a grandnephew of former President John F Kennedy.