The Irish Congress of Trade Unions is to seek representation on the proposed cross-Border bodies to be set up under the Belfast Agreement. In talks on a successor to Partnership 2000, it is also expected to seek "a key role" in North-South relations.
Both initiatives were announced by the ICTU president, Ms Inez McCormack, when she welcomed the latest moves by the North's political leaders to implement the agreement. Speaking at the annual dinner of the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland in Dublin last night, she said pro-agreement parties "had given us all hope that we will enter the new millennium at peace with one another."