Vol. 504 No. 4
71 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs when the British-Irish Council provided for in the Good Friday Agreement will be established; when the first meeting will be held; when the Anglo-Irish Secretariat in Maryfield will be closed; the plans, if any, there are for redeployment of staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12031/99]
Following discussions between the two governments and consultations with the parties in Northern Ireland, a supplementary international agreement, providing for the establishment of the British-Irish Council, was signed by the Secretary of State and myself in Dublin on 8 March 1999. The legislative framework for the establishment of the council is, therefore, now in place.
The British-Irish Council, along with the North-South Ministerial Council, the all-island implementation bodies, the British-Irish intergovernmental conference and the Northern Ireland Executive will be established at the same time as the entry into force of the British-Irish Agreement.
The two Governments believe that once the present difficulties regarding the establishment of the Executive are resolved, all the necessary arrangements for the entry into force of the British-Irish Agreement can be rapidly completed, and the first meetings of the British-Irish Council, and the other institutions, can take place immediately thereafter.
The Maryfield offices of the Anglo-Irish Secretariat have been closed, and the secretariat and its staff transferred to new premises in the centre of Belfast. Once the British-Irish Agreement enters into force, the Anglo-Irish Secretariat will be redeployed, probably to the Secretariat of the new British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference.
