Ministers from both sides of the Border today discussed the economic crisis and its implications at a plenary meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council (NSMC) at Farmleigh.
The NSMC was set up under the Belfast Agreement in 1998 and constitutes the main point of contact between the administrations in both parts of the island.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen hosted today’s gathering which was attended by ministers from both sides including the North’s First Minister, Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness.
A joint communiqué issued after the meeting said that “Ministers had a broad discussion of the economic challenges facing them and their respective responses to dealing with the downturn and its impact, particularly on the banking sectors in both jurisdictions.
“The Irish Government outlined its intention to establish a National Asset Management Agency. It was agreed that there would be an early meeting of the two Finance Ministers to discuss these issues.”
The Council welcomed the “good progress” on the A5 (Aughnacloy to the North West) and A8 (Belfast to Larne) road projects and noted that an important milestone, confirmation of the preferred routes, was expected to be announced shortly.
“They, therefore, agreed that payment of €9 million will be made by the Minister for Transport to the NI Consolidated Fund before the end of 2009, in accordance with an agreed payments procedure,” the communiqué added.
In a statement afterwards, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said: "We had another excellent discussion on our strategies for economic recovery and for overcoming the challenges facing the banking sector.
"We also welcomed progress on the A5 road to Derry and Letterkenny and the A8 road from Belfast to Larne and were pleased to endorse a first Government contribution to the projects of €9 million.
"It is clear that we are stronger when we share approaches and weaker when we work alone. Both administrations stand to gain by promoting this island as a centre of excellence for innovation and cutting-edge research and, similarly, we both stand to save money if we can eliminate duplication in the provision of services on the island.
"These are commonsense approaches on issues of clear mutual benefit and I look forward to examining, through the North/South Ministerial Council, how we can translate our shared ambitions into concrete joint initiatives."
