North/South Ministerial Council facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
North/South Ministerial Council

Irish: An Chomhairle Aireachta Thuaidh-Theas Scots: North South Meinisterlie Council
Abbreviation	NSMC
Formation	13 December 1999; 25 years ago (1999-12-13)
Type	Intergovernmental organisation
Legal status	British–Irish Agreement
Headquarters	Armagh, Northern Ireland2
Region served	Ireland
Remarks	2 This is the location of the standing Joint Secretariat of the North/South Ministerial Council.

The North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC) is a special group set up to help Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland work together. It was created as part of the Good Friday Agreement, a peace deal signed in 1998.

The Council brings together government ministers from both sides of the island. Their main job is to plan and make decisions on important topics that affect everyone in Ireland. They are responsible for twelve different areas, from farming to tourism. Six of these areas are managed by special groups called North/South Implementation Bodies.

The main office for the Council is in Armagh, Northern Ireland. The North/South Ministerial Council and the Northern Ireland Assembly are very closely linked. They depend on each other to work properly. If the Northern Ireland Assembly stops working, then the British and Irish governments step in to manage the cooperation.

How the Council Works

The Ministerial Council is made up of representatives from the government in Northern Ireland and the government in the Republic of Ireland.

Types of Meetings

The Council holds different kinds of meetings:

• Full Meetings: These are big meetings where top leaders attend. The First Minister of Northern Ireland and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland lead the Northern Ireland team. The Taoiseach (Prime Minister) and Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) lead the Republic of Ireland team.
• Topic-Specific Meetings: These meetings focus on just one area, like education or health. The minister responsible for that topic from Dublin meets with two ministers from Northern Ireland. Usually, one minister is from a unionist background and one from a nationalist background.

Support Team

A special team called the Secretariat helps the Council. This team includes staff from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. They help organize meetings and make sure decisions are carried out. The Council also has occasional "institutional" meetings to handle things like appointing people to boards.

Areas for Cooperation

The Council works on twelve different areas. For six of these, both sides agree on what to do, but then they carry out the plans separately in their own areas. For the other six, they agree and then work together through special "all-Ireland" groups.

Areas Managed Separately

Here are some areas where they agree together but act separately:

• Agriculture: They work on farming issues, animal and plant health, and helping rural areas.
• Education: They cooperate on things like special needs education, helping students who struggle, and exchanging teachers and students.
• Environment: They protect the environment, deal with pollution, manage water quality, and handle waste.
• Health: They plan for emergencies, share high-tech medical equipment, research cancer, and promote healthy living.
• Tourism: They work together to promote the whole island of Ireland to visitors from other countries. They do this through a company called Tourism Ireland.
• Transport: They plan for roads, railways, public transport, and safety on roads and trains.

All-Ireland Cooperation Bodies

These six groups work together for the whole island:

• Waterways Ireland: They manage canals and rivers, especially for fun activities like boating.
• Food Safety Promotion Board: They help make sure food is safe to eat.
• Special European Union Programmes Body: They manage money from the European Union for projects across the island.
• The North/South Language Body: This group promotes the Irish language and the Ulster Scots dialect. It has two separate agencies: Foras na Gaeilge for Irish and Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch for Ulster Scots.
• InterTradeIreland: They help businesses trade and grow across the island.
• Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission: They manage Lough Foyle and Carlingford Lough and also help with coastal lights. They have two separate agencies: The Loughs Agency and Lights Agency.

The Council can add more areas to work on if both sides agree.

How the Council Operates

The Council has held many full meetings since it started in 1999. These meetings usually happen in Armagh or Dublin. The smaller, topic-specific meetings happen more often in various places.

Cooperation has worked differently in different areas. For example, working together on tourism happened very quickly, and Tourism Ireland was set up in 2000. However, cooperation on transport was slower at first.

In 2007, the joint secretariat had 25 staff members. By 2010, they moved into new, permanent offices in Armagh. The six all-Ireland groups also have their own staff and budgets. For example, in 2008, Tourism Ireland had 160 staff and a budget of €78.6 million.

See also

• British-Irish Council
• British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference
• Northern Ireland Assembly