President Biden said on Wednesday that Northern Ireland must not return to the violence it signed for years before a US-brokered peace deal 25 years ago, urging politicians to solve a political crisis that has left this part of the UK without a functioning government.

Speaking of the economic growth Northern Ireland has experienced since the Good Friday Agreement ended 30 years of sectarian bloodshed, Biden said it’s up to us to keep this up.

During his first presidential visit to Northern Ireland, Biden dangled the prospect of more US investment to fuel economic growth, especially if Belfast’s fractious politicians resolve a stalemate that has put their government on hiatus.

The simple truth is that peace and economic opportunity go hand in hand, Biden said during a speech at Ulster University’s new campus in Belfast. He noted that the glass-clad downtown building would have been unthinkable during the years of bombing and shooting known as The Troubles.”

Biden noted that Northern Ireland’s total economic output had doubled in the quarter century since the signing of the Good Friday peace deal in April 1998, and urged the people of Northern Ireland to keep the peace and make this incredible economic opportunity.

Biden urged all political parties to get back to work, saying democracy needs champions and the future of Northern Ireland is in their hands.

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I hope the assembly and executive will be restored soon, he said. That’s a judgment for you to make, not me, but I hope it happens.”

Biden’s visit was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, to which the US was key. Biden praised people willing to risk the future boldly by reaching the agreement, and reminded the public that peace was not inevitable.

Referring to a gun attack on a senior police officer that authorities attributed to Irish Republican Army dissidents opposed to the peace process, Biden said that “the enemies of peace will not prevail. Northern Ireland will not back down, pray God.”

Although at peace, Northern Ireland has been without a functioning government since the Democratic Unionist Party, half of a power-sharing government, walked out a year ago over a post-Brexit trade dispute.

Before his speech, Biden briefly met with the leaders of the DUP and Northern Ireland’s four other major political parties.

Biden has faced distrust from pro-British trade unionists because of his Irish-American heritage. Sammy Wilson, a DUP lawmaker in the UK Parliament, told Talk TV that Biden has a reputation for being pro-Republican, anti-Unionist, anti-British, a claim the White House flatly denied.

Biden’s speech carefully navigated Northern Ireland’s complex political currents, referring to both his British and Irish heritage, and noting the contribution to the US of largely Protestant Ulster Scots and Irish Catholics like his own ancestors.

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Such things do not go unnoticed in Northern Ireland. DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said Biden’s reference to his own British heritage, I think, hopefully indicates that we have a president who recognizes the United Kingdom as a close ally and friend of the United States.

But Donaldson doubted the president’s visit would change the political dynamic.

I know what needs to happen to make the progress we all want and that is for Northern Ireland’s place within the UK to be both respected and protected, and we want to see that in law, he said.

Michelle ONeill of the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein said Biden had sent a clear message to the DUP about the need to get back to work.

Biden also had tea with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during his stopover in Belfast. The president spent less than 24 hours in Northern Ireland before traveling on to the Republic of Ireland for a three-day visit that included a speech to Dublin Parliament, attending a gala dinner and trips to two ancestral birthplaces.

British officials denied that the brevity of the visit amounted to a censure. Sunak said he and Biden had a very good discussion about investing in Northern Ireland, along with foreign policy issues.

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Were very close partners and allies. We will work together on some things, Sunak said.

The political crisis in Northern Ireland is partly the result of Brexit. Britain’s departure from the European Union left Northern Ireland uneasily balancing between the rest of the UK and EU member Ireland, putting increasing pressure on the peace deal.

After much bickering, Britain and the EU reached an agreement in February to address tensions over trade, eliminating many of the customs controls that have irritated businesses and angered trade unionists. However, the Democratic Unionist Party says the deal does not go far enough to allay concerns over Northern Ireland’s place in the UK, and has refused to return to government.

Biden, who has urged Britain and the bloc to put the Brexit bickering behind them, praised British and EU leaders for trying to solve the complex challenges posed by Brexit.

Neil Given, an official living in Belfast, welcomed Biden’s visit but said he doesn’t expect it to break the political deadlock.

We have been fighting for more than a year now, and since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement there have been numerous interruptions of Stormont’s institutions, he said. “Whether Mr. Bidens’ visit in 24, 48 hours can bring people together and maybe get a message that we really need to go back to the government, I don’t know.

But hopefully he succeeds. I know there is certainly no more powerful person who can spread that message.