Establishment of the North/South Inter-Parliamentary Association

For the past number of years and, in particular, since an initial all-party Conference in October 2010, work has been progressing on the establishment of a North/South Inter-Parliamentary Association through Working Groups in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Working Groups have been meeting to discuss issues of mutual interest to MLAs and TDs /Senators.

 At a joint meeting of the Working Groups in Parliament Buildings today, it was agreed that the North/South Inter-Parliamentary Association be established. The Association will have 48 members, plus two Co-Chairs, with membership drawn in equal numbers from the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Houses of the Oireachtas.   It will meet twice annually on a rotational basis with the Agenda being agreed by an Executive Committee comprised of the two current Working Groups.  The Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, William Hay MLA, has been elected as the Assembly’s first Co-Chair of the Association by its representatives on the Executive Committee, and the Ceann Comhairle, Seán Barrett TD, has been elected as the first Co-Chair on behalf of the Oireachtas Members on the Association’s Executive Committee.

 The Speaker, William Hay MLA welcomed the establishment of the Association: “I am pleased to join the Ceann Comhairle today in announcing the formation of the North South Inter-Parliamentary Association.  The Association, which has been agreed by all five main political parties in the Assembly, will provide a platform for the natural engagement between neighbouring legislatures and builds on the regular contact which already exists between Committees of each Institution. I welcome the fact that the Association’s work will be supported by the existing Secretariats of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Houses of the Oireachtas ensuring that it will involve minimal costs. The work to set up an Association has been on-going for a period of time and I would like to thank the Ceann Comhairle, Seán Barrett TD for the positive relationship we have had and the members of the Working Groups for the constructive efforts and discussions they have had to reach this point.”

 The Ceann Comhairle, Seán Barrett TD, also welcomed the establishment of the Association: “Today marks a very significant day for the Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas and of the Northern Ireland Assembly.  It is a day on which representatives of all the main political parties North and South have agreed to establish a shared formal mechanism for regular and direct discussion and engagement with a view to finding ways, through North/South co-operation, of improving the lives of the people we represent.  The North/South Inter-Parliamentary Association will be parliamentarian-led and parliamentarian-focussed.   It will be about building relationships and sharing ideas among Assembly and Oireachtas Members to address issues of common interest and concern, as envisaged in the Good Friday/Belfast and St. Andrew’s Agreements.

 “I want to commend William Hay MLA, Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, for his leadership and vision towards the establishment of the North/South

Inter-Parliamentary Association.  I am delighted that my offer, on behalf of the Houses of the Oireachtas, that the first Plenary Meeting of the North/South

Inter-Parliamentary Association take place in Dublin on 12 October 2012 has been accepted and agreed.”

       


For further information please contact:

Ciaran Brennan,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2

P: +3531 618 3903
M: 086-0496518
F: +3531 618 4551

Executive Committee Members – North/South Inter-Parliamentary Association
Houses of the Oireachtas

Seán Barrett TD (Co Chair)
Dominic Hannigan TD
Séamus Kirk TD
Joe McHugh TD
Thomas Pringle TD
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD

Northern Ireland Assembly                                 

William Hay MLA (Co Chair)                               
Peter Weir MLA DUP                                              
Barry McElduff MLA SF                                          
Leslie Cree MLA UUP                                             
Pat Ramsey MLA SDLP                                         
Judith Cochrane MLA