Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 October 2007
315 Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he will report on the work of the North-South unit in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22592/07]
View answerThe North-South Unit in my Department actively pursues opportunities to facilitate, strengthen and enhance North-South co-operation across the three sectors under my remit as Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism. The Unit also monitors progress on specific initiatives or priority actions in relation to North-South co-operation in the sectors in question. In considering any such initiatives, the over-riding principle has been that they should offer clear and tangible benefits, North and South. The Unit attends the various North/South co-ordinators meetings as convened by the Department of Foreign Affairs and also liaises closely with the North South Ministerial Council on relevant areas of interest.
As the Deputy will be aware, tourism was identified in the Good Friday Agreement as an area of co-operation and Tourism Ireland was established in 2000 with responsibility for the international marketing of the island of Ireland. It is, in my opinion, an excellent example of the tangible benefits to be achieved from North-South co-operation. The North-South Unit meets regularly with Tourism Ireland to discuss relevant policy issues and also various corporate governance issues.
North South co-operation on tourism also exists on a less formal basis in areas such as education and training; product marketing and publicity; tourism statistics and research and accommodation standards. A variety of initiatives are being developed and pursued by the tourism agencies across these areas to deepen the level of co-operation that already exists. In recent months, my Department has also been working with the tourism agencies, the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland and the Special EU Programmes Body to advance the selection of tourism projects which may benefit from funding under the next round of the EU Interreg Programme in the period up to 2013.
Furthermore, on the 8th November, I will be meeting the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Mr. Nigel Dodds, at the first North South Ministerial Council Tourism Sectoral meeting since the restoration of the institutions in Northern Ireland.
In relation to sport, the two Sports Councils on the island enjoy a strong working relationship and currently engage in a number of joint initiatives such as the Code of Ethics and Good Practice for Children's Sport and the biennial All Island Sports Development Conference. I plan to attend the 5th such conference in Belfast this Thursday, 11th October. Many of the National Governing Bodies of Sport also operate on an all-island basis. The high level All Island Planning Group, which includes the Chairperson and Chief Executive of each Sports Council, meets on a regular basis to ensure consistency in policy and practice in sports development. There is co-operation on such issues as research, development of high performance sport and anti-doping. The Group ensures that there is no duplication of effort in planning and support for governing bodies of sport and individual athletes.
On the arts front, the Arts Council and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland have developed a very close working relationship over many years. There has been an ongoing programme of work and co-operation which is formalised through a number of formal structures, including Joint Plenary meetings, North/South Committee Meetings and North/South Senior Executive Meetings. There is also ongoing contact, co-operation and information exchange between the executives of both Councils. Both Councils have identified areas of common strategic interest, and have instigated programmes in the advancement of these. The councils have successfully collaborated on a number of projects and there are numerous funding initiatives between the two Arts Councils in the literary, music and visual arts spheres.
For my part, I am very committed to pursuing the North-South agenda and will continue to make the case at political level for closer co-operation within my areas of responsibility.
