North ministers have meeting with Chirac

The Northern Ireland Executive held its first meeting with a non-Irish, non-British European head of state here yesterday, heightening the North's visibility in Europe even as difficulties continue in the peace process.

President Jacques Chirac was to have spent only 10 minutes with the First Minister, Mr David Trimble, and the Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, at the Elysee Palace. Although Mr Chirac was leaving for Strasbourg for a summit with the German Chancellor and Foreign Minister, he stayed for 20 minutes with his guests from Northern Ireland.

Mr Trimble and Mr Mallon said afterwards they were struck by the keen interest and well-informed questions of Mr Chirac and Mr Pierre Moscovici, the Minister for European Affairs, whom they saw later at the Quai d'Orsay.

The French politicians were not asking about the intricacies of decommissioning and policing, Mr Trimble said. "What they wanted to know was our opinion and assessment of whether it is going to be possible to resolve - at which point we could express confidence. They also wanted to know what was the time scale, and there we couldn't be sure."

At the meeting with Mr Moscovici, Mr Trimble raised the question of the French embargo on British beef. Mr Moscovici spoke of "the problem of public phobia", said Mr Trimble.

At a press conference, Mr Mallon asked what the North's role should be in Europe. "Is it just there to hang on, to catch up, to get stability back in its life? We've got to get a bigger role for Northern Ireland in the context of the EU."

The two Ministers found their discussion of European enlargement with Mr Moscovici fascinating. "Enlargement is going to bring in the Baltic states at some point in the not too distant future," Mr Trimble said. "Each one of the Baltic states has got a mix of communal problems not dissimilar to our own. Poland and Slovakia are not entirely homogeneous. One third of Hungary's people live outside Hungarian borders. These problems exist on a wide scale in Europe. I think that there is a degree of contribution we can make, maybe only in a small way."

Earlier, Mr Trimble, Mr Mallon and the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Sir Reg Empey, were the guests of honour at a lunch hosted by the Industrial Development Board of Northern Ireland and the French business management association, MEDEF. Mr Mallon interpreted the large number of French business executives (205) and the length of the meal (21/2 hours) as a sign of informed interest.

The three Northern Ministers were to dine at the residence of the British ambassador, Sir Michael Jay, last night. The Irish Ambassador, Mr Patrick O'Connor, was to attend.