The British-Irish Council, which held its first meeting shortly before Christmas, is one of the most interesting and innovative parts of the Belfast Agreement, since it will contribute mightily to the realisation of the benefits within the "totality of relationships" between our peoples and islands. Many areas have been suggested for BIC activity. Transport is an obvious candidate, with some 25,000 journeys taking place daily across the Irish Sea. The IBEC-CBI Joint Business Council has been considering this topic and has identified issues for the BIC to address.

Significantly, it recognises that it is difficult to remedy infra structural weaknesses at a regional level and suggests that an "adequately resourced" Strand Three implementation-type body could play an important role.

There are many environmental issues to be considered, though discussions may be controversial, such as Sellafield. However, there should be scope to learn, from best practice, about policy issues such as carbon taxes, urban traffic management, river quality and waste management. It is true that EU directives usually impose common standards, but there are some variations, such as the speed at which EU standards are achieved (on waste management, Britain has to achieve European recycling levels by 2001, whereas the Republic has until 2005), the penalties applied, the extent of non-compliance and the systems of regulatory supervision. A social exclusion unit has been established in Britain to co-ordinate agencies caring for those outside the mainstream of society. Reports on truancy and homeless have been undertaken and further work aims at rejuvenating the poorest neighbourhoods.

This unit is expanding and seems to have some potential as a BIC item. One could envisage matched studies of problem estates in, say, Ballymena, Lurgan, Swansea, Glasgow, north Dublin and Manchester.

There are several potential areas for BIC involvement in cultural activities, such as the common Viking heritage and the commemoration of the first World War. The BIC could also co-ordinate national and international artistic events, and the activities of the British Council might offer a useful pattern. If Britain were to host a football World Cup, some matches could be played in the Republic and (subject to the building of a national stadium) in Northern Ireland.

We would also wish to build on some of the excellent work carried out by the Ulster Orchestra in promoting music composed in Ireland, which was part of (or on the edges of) the standard classical repertoire of 19th and 20th century music (e.g. Stanford, Wood and Ferguson).

The Ulster Museum, the National Galleries of Ireland and Scotland and the Museum of Wales could pool resources to bring in major international art exhibitions.

Sadly, the towns and cities around the Irish Sea all suffer from the problems of drugs abuse. There is already interaction between Northern Ireland officials and their counterparts, such as informal contacts with the Isle of Man and the sharing of information with the Republic. One area where comparative study could be worthwhile is that of prescribed substitutes for heroin. Scotland, for example, uses methadone (Glasgow may have as many as 12,000 addicts, one to two per cent of the population, and the substitution policy has provoked controversy) whereas Northern Ireland is more cautious. On education, one initiative, Project Citizen, has emerged from the US to encourage school links in Ireland between North and South. A parallel scheme has emerged to develop British-Republic of Ireland links. It is planned that joint curriculum projects, joint field trips and teacher exchanges will develop.

Other BIC-type educational issues could include:

A centre for Ulster-Scots cultural studies in one or both of the Northern Ireland universities.

School study packages on aspects of history, e.g. the 17th century wars of religion or the 17th to 19th century record of migration between and from these islands.

Joint degrees (students taking modules in some combination of, say, Northern Ireland, Wales, the Republic and Scotland).

The BIC is, in part, visionary. It recognises the strength of human and cultural connections between these islands. The historian, H.A.L. Fisher, said the peoples of Europe were "energetic mongrels" because of the extent of ethnic mixing. This mixing is perhaps supremely a characteristic of the peoples of Northern Ireland, the Republic, Scotland, England and Wales. The genius of those peoples derives, in large part, from this mixing and the BIC is the institution in the Belfast Agreement which best reflects this.

Dr Esmond Birnie MLA is UUP spokesman on the BIC