Vol. 528 No. 3
239 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the number of meetings he has held with his ministerial counterpart in the Northern Ireland Executive; the topics that were discussed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30375/00]
I met my ministerial counterpart in the Northern Ireland Assembly, Sir Reg Empey MLA, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, on four occasions to discuss the establishment of the North-South tourism company, envisaged under the Good Friday Agreement. Our first meeting took place at the North-South Ministerial Council – NSMC – inaugural plenary meeting, in Armagh, on 13 December 1999. We had two further meetings, on 30 June and 12 September 2000, for informal exchanges of views on the company's establishment.
Our last meeting was at the inaugural meeting of the NSMC in tourism sectoral format in Belfast, on 27 October 2000. At the meeting, a number of important decisions were taken in relation to the establishment of the all-island tourism marketing company, leading to the formal incorporation of the company – Tourism Ireland Limited – under Irish company law on Monday, 11 December 2000.
