US President Joe Biden's motorcade arrives in Belfast ahead of Northern Ireland visit

Two vehicles that will make up part of United States President Joe Biden’s motorcade have arrived in Northern Ireland.

The President will visit Belfast on 11 April and then travel onto the Republic of Ireland before departing on 14 April it has been confirmed.

The vehicles nicknamed 'Roadrunner' and 'Watchtower' were flown into Belfast International Airport by the US Air Force. They are part of the White House Communications Agency segment of motorcade.

Roadrunner, a modified Ford F350, is the Mobile Command and Control Vehicle that provides a communication point for the Presidential limousine to stay in contact with the Pentagon and the White House while the President travels.

Watchtower, a modified Chevrolet Suburban, is the Electronic Countermeasures Vehicle used to detect, disrupt, and jam hostile signals such as those used to trigger explosive devices.

Mr Biden’s armoured limousine – known as The Beast – is also set to arrive ahead of the four day visit.

Former Assistant Chief Constable Peter Sheridan said, "There will already have been secret service people from America here for the past 5-10 days. 

"When you think of the entourage that travels with an American President, moving the vehicles, transport planes from the United States, sometimes you can't see the scale of that event behind the scenes and what you see is him shaking hands at the front of the City Hall, but it's the enormous effort that goes in behind that. 

"I was part of the first visit by President Clinton to Derry in 1995 and we had take 65000 crowd control barriers from London to put on the road between the City of Derry airport and the Guild Hall in Derry, and that was only one part of it, nevermind the security of all of that route." 

The President will be in Belfast on Easter Tuesday and Wednesday to mark the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.

He will then travel to the Republic of Ireland for a series of engagements which will see him visit Dublin, Co Louth and Co Mayo.

The President can trace his ancestry to Ireland's west and east coasts, specifically Ballina in Co Mayo and the Cooley Peninsula in Co Louth.

His great-great-grandfather Owen Finnegan emigrated to the United States from the Cooley peninsula while another great-great-grandfather, Patrick Blewitt, was born in Ballina, leaving during the Irish famine in 1850 to sail to America.

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