Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has met for talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Belfast today before they attend the first British-Irish Council (Bic) meeting to be held at Stormont.
Speaking as leaders gathered for the meeting in Stormont, Mr Ahern said Ireland needs to work with the rest of Europe to combat terrorism.
Political leaders from across the Britain are meeting at the British-Irish Council (Bic) to discuss a range of topics, including greater co-operation in the fight against organised crime. Roads and economic development were also on the agenda.
It is the first Bic meeting to be held at Stormont, hosted by Northern Ireland First Minister the Rev Ian Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
As well as leaders of the Scottish and Welsh assemblies, the summit will also be attended by the leaders of the administrations in the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey.
The event is being staged the day before the first meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council in Armagh since the return of devolution to Belfast.
Taoiseach Mr Ahern
Mr Ahern said the battle against insurgency could only be won through goodwill on all sides. "Anything we can do about harmonising rules and regulations that make that more efficient all the better. In Europe generally more effort has to be put in."
Steps to improve systems would include biometric data on passports and better information sharing between the 27 countries of the European Union.
Ireland and Britain are not within the Schengen Agreement, which signalled greater integration between countries on the European mainland. Biometric visas are due to be introduced in 2009.
"It is an area where it's in everybody's interest to fight against crime, to fight against drugs and fight against organised criminals who make vast amounts of money," Mr Ahern said.
The Taoiseach and Mr Brown agreed to urge other European Union countries to share more intelligence to counter terrorist plots such as last month's failed car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow.
"I am delighted that the UK and Irish governments will now approach the European Union for better systems of data sharing so that we can deal with the potential threat," Mr Brown said.
Mr Brown said he was delighted to be making his first visit to Northern Ireland as prime minister so soon after the successful restoration of power-sharing government. "I believe that we have entered into a new historic time for Northern Ireland," he said.
He confirmed that details of a £51.5 billion investment package for the North for the next few years would be unveiled in the spending review in the autumn. Measures to boost economic regeneration in the regions are expected to be discussed, including better roads linking the North and the Republic.
The Rev Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness welcomed the leaders as they arrived at Stormont.
"This is a very important meeting, and to have all of the leaders of these various governments with us today including our new prime minister is really a bonus for Northern Ireland," Dr Paisley said.
Mr McGuinness said there should be a future "of the bagpipes linked up very sweetly with the sound of the fiddle and the bodhran".