The British-Irish council should be "up and running" as soon as the North/South implementation bodies are functional, an Ulster Unionist Party Assembly member has urged. Mr Esmond Birnie said the council was one of the central reasons the UUP supported the Belfast Agreement and it welcomed the institutional recognition of the strong East-West ties between Ireland and Britain.
"We want the British-Irish council up and running as soon as the North-South ministerial council gets going, though I appreciate there will be a transitional period until powers are devolved to the Edinburgh and Cardiff administrations."
Mr Birnie, the party's Assembly member for South Belfast, said at a weekend meeting of the UUP that the new British-Irish council should model itself on the Scandinavian experience of the Nordic Council, which is made up of five countries and two dependent territories.
The Nordic council aims to preserve the identity of each member, "and so should the British-Irish Council", he said.
He outlined how his party valued the council: "The members of the Northern Ireland Assembly are aware of our historical privilege and responsibility. With respect to the British-Irish council and related institutions it is a case of being present at the creation." The Belfast Agreement envisaged co-operation "on matters of mutual interest" between the three devolved parliaments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the Dail in the Republic of Ireland. England will also be represented on the council, although exactly how has yet to be resolved.
The agreement identified transport, agriculture, the environment, culture, health, education and EU issues as areas that could be addressed by the council. Mr Birnie proposed that the permanent secretariat of the council be located in Belfast so the city could become a "Geneva on the Lagan" and reap the ensuing economic benefits. He also raised the possibility of a name change for the council. "As alternatives the Council of the Isles, Islands of the north Atlantic, Islands of the Atlantic Council, Anglo-Celtic Council all have their appeal, though some demerits too."