Monday’s plenary meeting of the North South Ministerial Council held in Armagh has been described by Donegal minister, Charlie McConalogue, as positive and productive.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, who was one of a number of senior government ministers who attended the meeting, said the return of devolution to Northern Ireland will greatly help the island of Ireland realise its full potential.
“It’s important for Donegal, the North West and for the island of Ireland that the institutions are up and running effectively again,” Minister McConalogue commented.
“I worked well and closely with the previous Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs of Northern Ireland, Edwin Poots, and I’ve also been working well in recent weeks with the new Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Andrew Muir, who has been in place since February. Last month, we held a joint event at a beef farm in Ballindrait to mark the registration of Irish Grass Fed Beef as an All Island Protected Geographical Indication.
“This was a significant achievement for our Island and for our farmers. In my role as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, I look forward to driving on North South cooperation with Minister Muir,” the minister added.
He said the reality is that over the last seven years, only two of those have seen a fully functioning Northern Ireland Executives.
He added “It’s important that the North South bodies, the North South Ministerial Plenary Council and the sectoral councils all start working. Monday’s meeting was extremely positive and it’s important that we all work together to share the services we have across the border region. It’s vital that we have cooperation and engagement for the island of Ireland with all departments in Northern Ireland. My focus and the focus of other ministers is to ensure that the sectoral meetings of the North South Administration meet on a regular basis. We want to see the sharing of services through a collaborative approach.
“Monday’s meeting was about charting a course for all of the institutions North and South to get back up and running so that we can get to work on cross-border projects. Earlier this year, the Irish government announced almost one billion euro in funding for all-island projects under the Shared Island Initiative – an initiative established by the Tánaiste.
“These include the A5 upgrade, the refurbishment of Casement Park, improvements to the Dublin-Belfast rail link and the completion of the Newry – Carlingford Greenway. So, it is vital that politicians and ministers North and South work in a positive and productive way and deliver for the people on the island of Ireland,” Minister McConalogue said.
