TÁNAISTE MARY Coughlan and British deputy prime minister Nick Clegg have vowed to intensify co-operation to stabilise peace and prosperity in Northern Ireland.

Speaking at the first meeting of the North-South Parliamentary Forum in Newcastle, Co Down, Ms Coughlan and Mr Clegg praised the political progress achieved at Stormont in the wake of the Belfast and St Andrews agreements.

Addressing the joint meeting of Assembly members and members of the Oireachtas she said: “This gathering is further proof that we are stronger . . . when we co-operate and work together.

“The Good Friday/Belfast Agreement provides a comprehensive framework [for] conducting relations on this island and between these islands, and we still have work to do . . . not least when it comes to North-South and eastwest co-operation.”

Mr Clegg said the new coalition government in London did not take the new stability in the North for granted. “We know that there will be bumps and scrapes in the future, as relationships are tested within the devolved administration, and with the governments in Dublin and London,” he said. “But we are confident that the political maturity that presently governs these relationships has the potential to endure.” He pledged his government’s efforts to build on existing achievements.

Referring to recent dissident violence including the bomb attack in Derry on Tuesday, Mr Clegg committed the British government to combat paramilitary activity.

In the wake of growing anxiety about the severity of looming public spending cuts, Mr Clegg said his government recognised the Stormont Executive’s concerns. “We recognise anxieties here in NI, concerns which derive particularly from the local economy’s long-standing overreliance on the public sector . . . our ambition is for a private sector-led recovery, which can sustain growth,” he said.