The
North/South Ministerial Council (
NSMC) is a body established under the
Belfast AgreementThe Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement , sometimes called the Stormont Agreement, was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process...
(also known as the Good Friday Agreement) to co-ordinate activity and exercise certain governmental powers across the whole island of
IrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The Council takes the form of meetings between ministers from both the
Republic of IrelandIreland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
and
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
and is responsible for twelve policy areas. Six of these areas are the responsibility of corresponding
North/South Implementation Bodies. The body is based in the city of
ArmaghArmagh is a large settlement in Northern Ireland, and the county town of County Armagh. It is a site of historical importance for both Celtic paganism and Christianity and is the seat, for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland, of the Archbishop of Armagh...
.
Policy areas
The Council is responsible for policy in twelve "Areas for Co-operation". These are:
- Agriculture: Common Agricultural Policy
The Common Agricultural Policy is a system of European Union agricultural subsidies and programmes. It represents 48% of the EU's budget, €49.8 billion in 2006 ....
issues, animal and plant health, agricultural research and rural development.
- Education: Education for children with special needs, educational under-achievement, teacher qualifications and school, youth and teacher exchanges.
- Environment: Environmental protection, pollution, water-quality management and waste management.
- Health: Accident and emergency planning, co-operation on high-technology equipment, cancer research and health promotion.
- Tourism: The promotion of the island of Ireland as a tourist destination for overseas visitors via the establishment of a new company, known as Tourism Ireland
Tourism Ireland is the marketing body responsible for marketing the island of Ireland overseas...
.
- Transport: Co-operation on strategic transport planning including road and rail infrastructure and public transport services and road and rail safety.
Common policies in these areas are agreed at sectorial meetings of the North/South Ministerial Council, but implemented separately in each jurisdiction. In addition to these, six further "implementation bodies" span across the
borderThe Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border is the boundary between the sovereign states of the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland...
. Policies in these areas are agreed at North/South Ministerial Council level and administered directly by cross-border bodies.
| Implementation body | Competence |
| Waterways Ireland Waterways Ireland is one of the six all-Ireland North/South implementation bodies established under the Belfast Agreement in 1999. It is responsible for the management, maintenance, development, and restoration of inland navigable waterways primarily for recreational purposes...
|
Management of specific and chiefly recreational inland waterways. |
| Food Safety Promotion Board The Food Safety Promotion Board , trading as safefood, is the body responsible for the promotion of food safety in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland...
|
Food safety awareness. |
| Special European Union Programmes Body The Special EU Programmes Body is a cross-border body in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland which co-ordinates projects funded by the European Union and implemented in Northern Ireland and adjacent regions: the Border region of the Republic of Ireland, and Western Scotland...
|
Management and oversight of EUThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
programmes and common chapters of the National Development PlanNational Development Plan is the title given by the Irish Government to a scheme of organised large-scale expenditure on national infrastructure. The period covered by the seven year plan runs from 2000 to 2006. A second National Development Plan is currently in progress and is due to run until...
(Republic of IrelandIreland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
) and the Northern Ireland Structural Funds Plan. |
| InterTradeIreland The Trade and Business Development Body , trading as InterTradeIreland, is one of the six all-Ireland bodies set up following the Belfast Agreement reporting to the North/South Ministerial Council. The body manages and implements programmes to build networks and partnerships on the Island...
|
Trade and business development. |
| The North/South Language Body The North/South Language Body is an implementation body, provided for by the Belfast Agreement, that exists to implement policies agreed by Ministers in the North/South Ministerial Council in Ireland with regard to the Irish and Ulster-Scots languages.It is a single body reporting to the...
:
- Foras na Gaeilge
Foras na Gaeilge is the governing body of the Irish language, responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island of Ireland. Its name can be translated into English as "The Irish Language Body", although the body has no official English-language name...
- Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch
|
Promotion of the Irish Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
and Ulster ScotsUlster Scots or Ulster-Scots generally refers to the dialects of Scots spoken in parts of Ulster in Ireland. Some definitions of Ulster Scots may also include Standard English spoken with an Ulster Scots accent...
languages. |
Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission:- The Loughs Agency
- Lights Agency
|
The management and development of Lough Foyle Lough Foyle, sometimes Loch Foyle , is the estuary of the River Foyle in Ulster. It starts where the Foyle leaves Derry. It separates the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland from County Londonderry in Northern Ireland.-Transport:...
and Carlingford LoughCarlingford Lough is a glacial fjord or sea inlet that forms part of the border between Northern Ireland to the north and the Republic of Ireland to the south. On its northern shore is County Down and on its southern shore is County Louth...
, the two sea lochLoch is the Irish and Scottish Gaelic word for a lake or a sea inlet. It has been anglicised as lough, although this is pronounced the same way as loch. Some lochs could also be called a firth, fjord, estuary, strait or bay...
s that mark the beginning and end of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland border, and coastal lights. |
Originally, a new jointly owned agency, Lights Agency, was intended to replace the Republic-owned
Commissioners of Irish LightsThe Commissioners of Irish Lights is the body that serves as the lighthouse authority for Ireland plus its adjacent seas and islands...
, which manages coastal lights throughout the island of Ireland. However, complexities arising from the transfer of functions have meant that this has had to be reconsidered. In addition to these bodies, tourism, while not within the competence of an implementation body, is promoted by an agency with responsibility for the whole island of Ireland called
Tourism IrelandTourism Ireland is the marketing body responsible for marketing the island of Ireland overseas...
.
Organisation
The Ministerial Council consists of representatives of both the
Northern Ireland ExecutiveThe Northern Ireland Executive is the executive arm of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the devolved legislature for Northern Ireland. It is answerable to the Assembly and was established according to the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which followed the Good Friday Agreement...
and the
GovernmentThe Government of Ireland is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland.-Members of the Government:Membership of the Government is regulated fundamentally by the Constitution of Ireland. The Government is headed by a prime minister called the Taoiseach...
of the Republic of Ireland. The Ministerial Council may meet in either a plenary or sectoral format. In a plenary meeting a Northern Ireland delegation is led by the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland while the Republic's delegation is led by the
TaoiseachThe Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
and
TánaisteThe Tánaiste is the deputy prime minister of Ireland. The current Tánaiste is Eamon Gilmore, TD who was appointed on 9 March 2011.- Origins and etymology :...
(the Republic's prime minister and deputy prime minister).
A meeting in a sectoral format deals only with one particular policy area, and consists of the minister from the Republic with responsibility for the area under discussion, and two ministers from Northern Ireland (usually one
UnionistBritish unionism is a political ideology favouring the continued existence of the United Kingdom as a sovereign state, consisting of four constituent countries, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland....
and one
NationalistIrish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
), including the minister with the relevant competence. The Council is supported by a standing Joint Secretariat, consisting of members of the civil services of both Northern Ireland and the Republic.
See also
- History of Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is today one of the four countries of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, having been created as a separate legal entity on 3 May 1921, under the Government of Ireland Act 1920...
- Politics of the Republic of Ireland
Ireland is a parliamentary, representative democratic republic and a member state of the European Union. While the head of state is the popularly elected President of Ireland, this is a largely ceremonial position with real political power being vested in the indirectly elected Taoiseach who is...
- Belfast Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement , sometimes called the Stormont Agreement, was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process...
- British-Irish Council
The British–Irish Council is an international organisation established under the Belfast Agreement in 1998, and formally established on 2 December 1999 on the entry into force of the consequent legislation...
- British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference
The British–Irish Intergovernmental Conference was established under an Agreement between the Governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom made on 8 March 1998. It was provided for under Strand Three of the Belfast Agreement...
External links