President Joe Biden said a bright future for Northern Ireland is “just beginning," pledging enduring American support as he marked the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. The U.S.-brokered deal brought peace to this part of the United Kingdom, but a new political crisis has recently tested its strength. “It's up to us to keep this going,” Biden said in a speech at Ulster University. On his first presidential visit to Northern Ireland, Biden stressed that American investment can help fuel economic growth — especially if the fractious politicians in Belfast resolve a stalemate that has put their government on pause. “Your history is our history," he said. "And even more important, your future is America’s future.” Biden’s speech navigated Northern Ireland’s complex political currents, referring to his British as well as Irish ancestry, and noting the contribution to the U.S. of largely Protestant Ulster Scots as well as Irish Catholics like his own forebears. U.S. involvement was key to negotiating the Good Friday accord, which largely ended decades of sectarian violence that killed 3,600 people. Biden credited people who were willing to “risk boldly for the future” by reaching the agreement, reminding the audience that "peace was not inevitable.” While that peace has endured, Northern Ireland is currently without a functioning government. Stormont, the seat of its assembly, has been suspended since the Democratic Unionist Party, which formed half of a power-sharing government, walked out a year ago over a post-Brexit trade dispute. In addition, a top police official was shot and injured in February, an attack that authorities have blamed on Irish Republican Army dissidents opposed to the peace process. “The enemies of peace will not prevail," Biden said. "Northern Ireland will not go back, pray God.”