Prime Minister congratulates US president-elect

The Prime Minister was among the first world leaders to secure a call with US president-elect Joe Biden.

Boris Johnson congratulated Mr Biden on his victory, which Donald Trump is contesting with baseless allegations of electoral fraud.

The former vice president's warnings over Brexit have prompted concerns that Mr Johnson may have a strained relationship with the man who will take over the White House in January.

Mr Biden is not a natural ally of Brexit, and has likened the Prime Minister to a "physical and emotional clone" of Mr Trump.

After the call a No 10 source said: "They talked about the importance of implementing Brexit in such a way that upholds the Good Friday Agreement, and the PM assured the president-elect that would be the case."

Mr Biden's transition team said he thanked the Prime Minister for his congratulations and expressed his desire to "strengthen the special relationship" and "reaffirmed his support for the Good Friday Agreement".

They are understood to have spoken for around 25 minutes from 4pm on Tuesday.

The call with Mr Johnson came after it emerged his earlier tweet congratulating Mr Biden had the word "Trump" faintly concealed in it.

Downing Street said a "technical error" meant parts of an alternative congratulatory statement for the Republican were overlaid on the final graphic.

The Taoiseach has also congratulated Mr Biden and invited him to visit Ireland to celebrate his victory.

Micheal Martin said he held a "warm and engaging call" with Mr Biden, who spoke proudly of his Irish heritage.

Mr Martin also said that the president-elect "underlined his commitment" to the Good Friday Agreement during the call on Tuesday.

The call between the two men took place shortly after Mr Biden had spoken to Mr Johnson.

Mr Martin congratulated Mr Biden and Kamala Harris on their "remarkable election victory".

In a statement the Irish Government said Mr Biden had recalled his "strong Irish roots and his visit to Ireland with his family in 2016" during the "warm conversation between the men."

"The president-elect reaffirmed his full support for the Good Friday Agreement and they discussed the importance of a Brexit outcome that respects the GFA and ensures no return of a border on the island of Ireland," the statement read.

"They looked forward to working together bilaterally and across a range of international areas including EU-US relations, the UN - including the Security Council, and on the important global challenges of Covid-19, economic recovery and climate change."

Earlier in the day the Irish premier had posted a message on Twitter saying he had spoken to Joe Biden, but it was swiftly deleted.

Mr Martin had written: "Just finished a very positive call with US President Elect @JoeBiden."

The Irish Government then confirmed that a phone call was "being arranged" between Mr Martin and Mr Biden, but it had not yet taken place.

The Government spokesman said the tweet had been "sent in error".

Speaking in the Irish parliament shortly after the tweet was deleted, Mr Martin described Mr Biden as "the most Irish of presidents since John F. Kennedy".