North/South Ministerial Council

North/South Ministerial Council
Logo of the North/South Ministerial Council
Abbreviation NSMC
Formation 13 December 1999
Type IGO
Legal status British-Irish Agreement
Headquarters Armagh, Northern Ireland2
Coordinates 54°21′00″N 6°39′20″W / 54.350036°N 6.655606°W
Region served
 Ireland
Website www.northsouthministerialcouncil.org
Remarks 1 This is the location of the standing Joint Secretariat of the North/South Ministerial Council.

The North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC) (Irish: An Chomhairle Aireachta Thuaidh-Theas, Ulster-Scots: North South Meinisterlie Council)[1] is a body established under the Good Friday Agreement to co-ordinate activity and exercise certain governmental powers across the whole island of Ireland.

The Council takes the form of meetings between ministers from both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland 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 Armagh.

The North/South Ministerial Council and the Northern Ireland Assembly are "mutually inter-dependent" institutions: one cannot exist without the other.[2] When the Northern Ireland Assembly is suspended, responsibility for areas of co-operation fall to the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference.

Organisation

The Ministerial Council consists of representatives of both the Northern Ireland Executive and the Government of Ireland. The Ministerial Council may meet in either a plenary or, more commonly, sectoral format. In a plenary meeting a Northern Ireland delegation is led by the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland while Ireland's delegation is led by the Taoiseach and Tánaiste (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 south with responsibility for the area under discussion, and two ministers from Northern Ireland (usually one Unionist and one Nationalist), including the minister with the relevant competence.[3] The Council is supported by a standing joint secretariat, consisting of members of the civil services of both Northern Ireland and Ireland.

The Council also has occasional meetings in an "institutional" format to consider other business and technical matters, such as appointments to boards.[3]

Areas for co-operation

The Council is responsible for twelve "areas for co-operation". Six of these are in areas where co-operation must be agreed together but implemented separately in each jurisdiction. Six more are in areas where co-operation is agreed together and implemented through shared all-Ireland "implementation bodies".

Areas for co-operation where implementation is carried out separately:

The six all-Ireland implementation bodies are:

In addition to these bodies, Tourism Ireland, is a de facto seventh implementation body.[3] Additional areas for co-operation may be added by agreement among the Council and with the endorsement of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Oireachtas.

Originally, a new jointly owned agency, Lights Agency, was intended to replace the Commissioners of Irish Lights, which is funded from the UK Department for Transport-managed General Lighthouse Fund to provide coastal aids to navigation throughout the island of Ireland. However, complexities arising from the transfer of functions have meant that this has had to be reconsidered.

Operation

Plenary meetings occur twice yearly. Since 2009, the location of these have alternated between Dublin and Armagh. Sectoral meetings occur more frequently at various locations.

The level of co-operation differs across areas. For example, co-operation on tourism proceeded very rapidly (creating Tourism Ireland in 2000). On the other hand, there was initially little co-operation in the area of transport. At first because of resistance from the relevant minister in Northern Ireland and later because, after the restoration of the Council following suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly, because the British and Irish governments had already done much of the work during a period of direct rule.[3]

In 2007, the joint secretariat number 25 personnel, comprising 10 from Ireland and 15 from Northern Ireland. In 2010, the secretariat took up new, permanent office in Armagh. Budgets, staff numbers and headquarters for the six implementation bodies (including Tourism Ireland) in 2008 were as follows:[3]

Implementation body Location Staff Budget (millions)
Waterways Ireland Enniskillen 345 €50.9
Food Safety Promotion Board Cork 27 €10.2
Special European Union Programmes Body Belfast 66 €4.6
InterTradeIreland Newry 44 €17.1
The North/South Language Body Dublin and Belfast 69 €25.7
Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission Derry and Carlingford 47 €8.5
Tourism Ireland Dublin and Coleraine 160 €78.6
    758 €195.6

Meetings

Plenary meetings

No. Year Date First Minister
of Northern Ireland		 Deputy First Minister
of Northern Ireland		 Taoiseach Tánaiste Location
1 1999 13 December David Trimble Seamus Mallon Bertie Ahern Mary Harney Armagh
2 2000 26 September David Trimble Seamus Mallon Bertie Ahern Mary Harney Dublin
3 2001 30 November David Trimble Mark Durkan Bertie Ahern Mary Harney Dublin
4 2002 28 June David Trimble Mark Durkan Bertie Ahern Mary Harney Armagh
5 2007 17 July Ian Paisley Martin McGuinness Bertie Ahern Brian Cowen Armagh
6 2008 7 February Ian Paisley Martin McGuinness Bertie Ahern Brian Cowen Dundalk
7 2009 23 January Peter Robinson Martin McGuinness Brian Cowen Mary Coughlan University of Ulster at Magee
8 6 July Peter Robinson Martin McGuinness Brian Cowen Mary Coughlan Dublin
9 14 December Peter Robinson Martin McGuinness Brian Cowen Mary Coughlan Limavady
10 2010 5 July Peter Robinson Martin McGuinness Brian Cowen Mary Coughlan Dublin
11 2011 21 January Peter Robinson Martin McGuinness Brian Cowen Mary Coughlan Armagh
12 10 June Peter Robinson Martin McGuinness Enda Kenny Eamon Gilmore Dublin
13 18 November Peter Robinson Martin McGuinness Enda Kenny Eamon Gilmore Armagh
14 2012 15 June Peter Robinson Martin McGuinness Enda Kenny Eamon Gilmore Dublin
15 2 November Peter Robinson Martin McGuinness Enda Kenny Eamon Gilmore Armagh
16 2013 5 July Peter Robinson Martin McGuinness Enda Kenny Eamon Gilmore Dublin
17 8 November Peter Robinson Martin McGuinness Enda Kenny Eamon Gilmore Armagh

Institutional meetings

No. Year Date First Minister
of Northern Ireland		 Deputy First Minister
of Northern Ireland		 Minister for Foreign Affairs Location
1 2001 17 December David Trimble Mark Durkan Brian Cowen Parliament Buildings, Belfast
2 2007 30 October Ian Paisley Martin McGuinness Dermot Ahern Dundalk
3 17 December Ian Paisley Martin McGuinness Dermot Ahern Stormont Castle, Belfast
4 2009 28 April Peter Robinson Martin McGuinness Micheál Martin Dublin
5 11 November Peter Robinson Martin McGuinness Micheál Martin Stormont Castle, Belfast
6 2011 3 October Peter Robinson John O'Dowd Eamon Gilmore Stormont Castle, Belfast
7 2012 27 April Peter Robinson Martin McGuinness Eamon Gilmore Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin
8 2013 29 April Peter Robinson Martin McGuinness Eamon Gilmore Stormont Castle, Belfast
9 2014 10 January Peter Robinson Martin McGuinness Eamon Gilmore Iveagh House, Dublin

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ "North-South Ministerial Council: 2011 Yeirlie Report" (PDF). Armagh: North/South Ministerial Council. 2012. Note: The council has used a number of different translations since its inception. It was originally known as Tha Noarth-Sooth Cooncil o Männystèrs.
  2. ↑ Christine Bell (2003), Peace Agreements and Human Rights, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 141, The agreement makes it clear that the North-South Ministerial Council and the Northern Ireland Assembly are 'mutually inter-dependent, and that one cannot successfully function without the other.' This interdependence is constructed so as to ensure that nationalists and unionists cannot 'cherrypick' the aspects of government which they particularly want to implement. Thus, unionists only get the Assembly and devolved power if they operate the cross-border mechanisms, and for nationalists the situation is reversed.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 John Coakley; Michael Gallaghe, eds. (2010), Politics in the Republic of Ireland, Oxon: Routldge