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 that helps run things across the whole island of Ireland. It was set up as part of the Good Friday Agreement, which brought peace to Northern Ireland.

The Council is made up of government ministers from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. They meet to discuss and make decisions on important topics. The NSMC is based in the city of Armagh in Northern Ireland.

The North/South Ministerial Council and the Northern Ireland Assembly work very closely together. They depend on each other. If the Northern Ireland Assembly stops working for a while, the British and Irish governments take over some of the Council's duties.

How the Council Works

The Ministerial Council includes people from the Northern Ireland Executive and the Government of Ireland. They can meet in two main ways:

• Full Meetings: These are big meetings where the leaders from both sides attend. From Northern Ireland, the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland lead their team. From the Republic of Ireland, the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) and Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) lead their team.

• Topic-Specific Meetings: These meetings focus on just one area, like health or education. Only the ministers responsible for that specific topic attend. For example, the Minister for Health from Dublin would meet with two ministers from Northern Ireland who handle health matters.

A special team called the secretariat helps the Council. This team includes staff from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. They help organise meetings and keep things running smoothly.

The Council also has occasional "institutional" meetings. These are for smaller tasks, like choosing people for different boards.

What the Council Does

The Council is in charge of twelve important areas where Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland work together. These areas help improve life for everyone on the island.

Six of these areas are handled by both governments agreeing on a plan, but then each side carries out the plan separately in their own area. The other six areas are managed by special "all-Ireland implementation bodies." These are shared groups that work for the whole island.

Areas for Separate Action

Here are the areas where both sides agree on a plan, but then put it into action on their own:

• Farming: This includes topics like animal health, plant health, and helping farms grow.
• Education: They work on things like helping children with special needs and improving teacher training. They also arrange student and teacher exchanges.
• Environment: This covers protecting nature, stopping pollution, and managing water quality and waste.
• Health: They plan for emergencies, share high-tech medical equipment, and work together on cancer research and promoting healthy living.
• Tourism: They created a company called Tourism Ireland. Its job is to encourage people from other countries to visit the whole island of Ireland.
• Transport: They plan for roads, railways, and public transport. They also work on making travel safer.

All-Ireland Implementation Bodies

These six groups work for the entire island of Ireland:

• Waterways Ireland: This group looks after important inland waterways, especially for fun activities like boating.
• Food Safety Promotion Board: They help make sure food is safe for everyone to eat.
• Special European Union Programmes Body: This body manages money and projects from the European Union for both parts of Ireland.
• The North/South Language Body: This group promotes two languages: Irish and Ulster Scots. It has two separate agencies to do this: Foras na Gaeilge for Irish and Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch for Ulster Scots.
• InterTradeIreland: This group helps businesses trade and grow across the whole island.
• Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission: This group manages the waters of Lough Foyle and Carlingford Lough. It also deals with coastal lights through two agencies.

More areas for cooperation can be added if both the Council and the Northern Ireland Assembly agree.

How the Council Operates

The North/South Ministerial Council has held many meetings since it started in 1999. Full meetings usually happen once or twice a year, switching between Armagh and Dublin. Meetings about specific topics happen more often in different places.

How well they work together can be different for each area. For example, cooperation on tourism happened very quickly. They set up Tourism Ireland in 2000. However, cooperation on transport was slower at first.

In 2007, the team helping the Council (the secretariat) had 25 people. In 2010, they moved into a new office in Armagh. The table below shows how many staff and how much money the main implementation bodies had in 2008:

Related Groups

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