Winderful to see you

Rain & dignitaries turn out to greet Joe as he lands for four-day trip

- FERGHAL BLANEY and LOUISE BURNE

The United States leader touched down at Belfast International Airport on his first port of call shortly after 9.20pm and was met off the tarmac by British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak.

He was then whisked away in a convoy of dozens of blacked-out cars, many of them bulletproof, to the Grand Central Hotel in Belfast.

The visit has been timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Biden told reporters before he left Andrews Air Force base in Maryland yesterday that his top priority was to "make sure the Irish accords and the Windsor Agreement stay in place, keep the peace".

He added: "That's the main thing. And it looks like we're going to keep your fingers crossed." The trip will see President Biden visit at least four counties, with the POTUS travelling to Dublin after Belfast today and also taking in Louth and Mayo.

Security sources last night were saying the next few days will probably see "the biggest security lockdown in the history of the State".

Many parts of Belfast were impassable from early yesterday, with the streets around the hotel where Mr Biden stayed closed off and blocked with heavy iron barriers.

There was a ring of steel around much of the rest of the city too with more road closures and no parking being enforced in other areas. Several cars were towed away from near the University of Ulster's new Cathedral Quarter campus yesterday afternoon.