Ireland's former leader, Bertie Ahern, has told CGTN Europe that there is still much work to be done by the current and future generations in Northern Ireland in order to achieve a long-lasting peace, and that the full legacy of "the Troubles" has yet to be properly dealt with.

Ahern was the Irish Prime Minister from 1997 to 2008, a role known in Ireland as Taoiseach. He played a key role in the Good Friday Agreement that largely ended decades of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland - which is part of the United Kingdom.

Exactly 25 years on from that agreement, U.S. President Joe Biden is in Belfast to mark its anniversary, and will meet representatives of parties on all sides of the political spectrum. But it comes at a delicate time. 

In an interview with CGTN Europe Ahern said, "I think my deep regret is that President Biden isn't addressing Stormont. That would have been a wonderful occasion." 

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Ahern praised Rishi Sunak's efforts to resolve the impasse and the work of the government in Dublin as well but he wasn't convinced Biden's visit would provide an immediate solution.

"One party wouldn't agree, the Democratic Unionist Party so Joe Biden is now making his main speech at a wonderful new university building and I'm sure he'll meet the party leaders there," he said. "I don't think anything he (Biden) says will bring the institutions back, in the next month anyway."

The current political power-sharing arrangement which the agreement brought about remains suspended, with the Democratic Unionist Party refusing to take part in the devolved government at Stormont. Known as 'loyalists' or 'unionists', they want Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom, and have been angered by post-Brexit trade rules that require customs checks on goods flowing between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, in order to preserve an open border with Ireland, which itself remains part of the EU. 

Maintaining the free movement of people and goods across the Irish border was a key part of the Good Friday Agreement, and has been a red line for Brussels in its Brexit negotiations with Westminster. The DUP has said it won't be pressured by Joe Biden's visit into resuming its participation in the regional government, and continues to seek further changes to the trade rules, despite a recent deal to revise them.

Ahern told CGTN that he's annoyed by the current political crisis and says that while politicians have a right to express views and grievances, he believes pulling down whole institutions is an "extreme" approach and counter-productive for all sides.

The political crisis, brought about largely by Brexit, has put the Good Friday Agreement and the peace it established into a unprecedented state of fragility in recent years. Police were attacked with petrol bombs during a parade at the weekend; there were riots in unionist areas of several cities in 2021; a journalist was shot dead in 2019; and just this year, a senior police officer was shot multiple times and left in a critical condition. 

Warning signs that memories are long, grievances still exist on all sides, and tensions continue to simmer below the surface.

Joe Biden will have to choose his words carefully during his visit. He has spoken proudly of his Irish roots and frequently quotes famous Irish poets. He is also known to have opposed Britain's withdrawal from the EU and clashed with the UK government during Brexit negotiations. 

The DUP and all unionist parties will be listening acutely to what he has to say.

Biden will later spend three days in Ireland where he will address the parliament in Dublin, meet Prime Minister Leo Varadkar and visit his ancestral homes on either coast.

Ahern ultimately expressed hope that there might be some kind of progress in the coming months, which could bring Northern Ireland towards a more stable and conciliatory path away from its troubled recent history.