 |
|
|
 |
 |
| |
|
|
| Page:
< 1 2 > |
|
|
Taoiseach
Bertie Ahern arrives at Downing Street for the inaugural meeting of
the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference |
The
British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (BIIC) is provided for under
Strand Three of the Good Friday Agreement. The inaugural meeting took place
at Downing Street on 17 December 1999 and was chaired by Prime Minister
Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and attended by representatives
of the Dublin and London governments and the Northern Ireland Executive.
The
BIIC subsumes the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Council and Conference
established under Article 2 of the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement. It guarantees
the government of the Republic of Ireland a say in areas of bilateral
co-operation and on those matters not yet devolved to the Assembly or
the North-South Ministerial Council. In respect of bilateral co-operation
these include:
| - |
Asylum
and immigration, including Common Travel Area issues |
| - |
European
Union and international issues |
| - |
Social
security including methods of fraud detection |
| - |
Education |
| - |
Policy
on misuse of drugs: combating organised crime and associated money
laundering |
| - |
Fiscal
issues |
In
respect of non-devolved matters issues include:
| - |
Rights |
| - |
Policing,
including implementation of the Patten Report |
| - |
Criminal
justice |
| - |
Normalisation
of security arrangements and practices |
| - |
Cross-border
security co-operation |
| - |
Victims
of violence |
| - |
Prison
issues |
| - |
Drugs
and drug trafficking |
| - |
Broadcasting |
The
Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Northern Ireland Secretary
of State will chair the intergovernmental conferences which will be convened
as required. There is provision under the Agreement for Members of the
Legislative Assembly to be involved in the intergovernmental conference
but they will not have the power to block decisions taken by the two governments.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| Page:
< 1 2 > |
|
|
|
