Council judged a success by both leaders

Ten months on from the establishment of the North/South Ministerial Council, both sides yesterday expressed satisfaction with progress to date and pledged the continued delivery of "tangible actions for mutual benefit".

After chairing the second plenary meeting of the council, the first to be held in the Republic, the Taoiseach called the event "another important step in the consolidation of the Good Friday agreement".

Northern Ireland's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, said the co-operation to date between North and South had been "smooth and without difficulty or controversy," proving that in establishing the North-South institutions "we got the architecture right".

He added that he now looked forward to a point when the work of the council and the institutions became "boring".

Mr Ahern led a delegation of 11 ministers and two ministers of state at the meeting in Dublin Castle, while Mr Trimble was accompanied by all members of the Northern Executive except those of the Democratic Unionist Party.

The joint communique issued afterwards stressed the 13 sectoral meetings held since last December in which ministers from both parts of the island had dealt with issues concerning the North/South implementation bodies and the additional areas agreed for co-operation.

Looking forward to further progress before the next scheduled plenary, to be held in Northern Ireland in March 2001, the document noted that both sides attached particular importance "to the forthcoming establishment of the new tourism company which will have responsibility for the marketing overseas of the island of Ireland as a tourism destination".

The publicly-owned limited company will be set up jointly by Bord Failte and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board.

There have been informal meetings in recent months between the responsible ministers, Dr McDaid and Sir Reg Empey, and a planned formal meeting in October will finalise the establishment of the company.

Yesterday's meeting agreed procedures for recruiting chief executives to a number of the implementation bodies and approved an initial estimate of £64 million for the organisations' budget next year, £49 million of which will be contributed by the Republic.

The estimates reflect the continuing development of the work of the bodies, which are now expected to employ 900 staff during 2001, according to the communique.

The Taoiseach also stressed what he said had been useful exchanges on EU developments and their impact on North/South co-operation, and a discussion on ways in which both parts of the island could enhance their competitiveness in global markets.

The Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, highlighted a joint study agreed between the Government and the Executive aimed at removing obstacles to mobility between North and South.

As someone who lived close to the Border, he said he was particularly conscious of the problems facing those who travelled between the jurisdictions to live and work. There was "enormous need and potential" for removing these obstacles, he said.