British–Irish Council
British–Irish Council
Abbreviation | BIC |
---|---|
Formation | 2 December 1999 (1999-12-02) |
Type | Intergovernmental organisation |
Legal status | British-Irish Agreement |
Headquarters | Edinburgh, Scotland1 |
Coordinates | 55°56′45″N 3°13′21″W [13] |
Region served | British Isles2 |
Membership |
|
Website | britishirishcouncil.org [14] |
1This is the location of the Standing. The term British Isles being a geographical term as distinct from the political. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles [15]
Secretariat of the British-Irish Council. 2Owing to a dispute over name of the archipelago, the BIC uses a number of euphemisms to avoid this term in its documents. |
The British–Irish Council (BIC) is an intergovernmental organisation that aims to improve collaboration between its members in a number of areas including transport, the environment, and energy.[1] Its membership comprises the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, the devolved governments of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and the governments of the Crown dependencies of the UK: Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. England does not have a devolved administration, and as a result is not individually represented on the Council but represented as a member of the UK.[2]
The British and Irish governments, and political parties in Northern Ireland, agreed to form a Council under the British–Irish Agreement, part of the Good Friday Agreement reached in 1998. The Council was formally established on 2 December 1999, when the Agreement came into effect. The Council's stated aim is to "promote the harmonious and mutually beneficial development of the totality of relationships among the peoples of these islands". The BIC has a standing secretariat, located in Edinburgh, Scotland, and meets in semi-annual summit session and more frequent ministerial meetings.[3]
Abbreviation | BIC |
---|---|
Formation | 2 December 1999 (1999-12-02) |
Type | Intergovernmental organisation |
Legal status | British-Irish Agreement |
Headquarters | Edinburgh, Scotland1 |
Coordinates | 55°56′45″N 3°13′21″W [13] |
Region served | British Isles2 |
Membership |
|
Website | britishirishcouncil.org [14] |
1This is the location of the Standing. The term British Isles being a geographical term as distinct from the political. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles [15]
Secretariat of the British-Irish Council. 2Owing to a dispute over name of the archipelago, the BIC uses a number of euphemisms to avoid this term in its documents. |
Membership and operation
Membership of the Council consists of the following administrations (with current heads of administrations as of September 2019):
Member Administration | Representative(s) | Title | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Guernsey | Gavin St Pier | President of the Policy and Resources Committee | ||
Jersey | John Le Fondré | Chief Minister | ||
Ireland | Leo Varadkar, TD | Taoiseach | ||
Isle of Man | Howard Quayle, MHK | Chief Minister | ||
Northern Ireland[4] | Vacant | Executive Office | ||
Scotland | Nicola Sturgeon, MSP | First Minister | ||
Wales | Mark Drakeford, AM | First Minister | ||
United Kingdom | Boris Johnson, MP | Prime Minister |
The nine heads of government meet at summits twice per year. Additionally, there are regular meetings that deal with specific sectors and are attended by the corresponding ministers. Representatives of members operate in accordance with whatever procedures for democratic authority and accountability are in force in their respective elected legislatures.
England, unlike the other countries of the United Kingdom, is not represented separately, as it does not have its own devolved administration. It is thus solely represented on the Council as part of the United Kingdom.
The work of the Council is financed by members through mutual agreement as required.[5] At the ninth meeting of the Council in July 2007 it was decided that with devolved government returned to Northern Ireland that an opportune time existed "to undertake a strategic review of the Council's work programmes, working methods and support arrangements." This decision included the potential for a permanent standing secretariat, which was established in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 4 January 2012.
At its June 2010 summit, the Council decided to move forward on recommendations to enhance the relationship between it and the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly (BIPA). The British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly is made up of members from the parliaments and assemblies of the same states and regions as the members of the British–Irish Council. The Council tasked its secretariat with moving this work forward in conjunction with the BIPA's secretariat.
In addition to the above members Cornwall has been a full observer member since 2010 due to the Cornish language falling under the Council's areas of work.[6]
Work areas
The Council agrees to specific work areas for which individual members take responsibility. The Belfast Agreement suggested transport links, agriculture, environmental issues, culture, health, education and approaches to the European Union as suitable topics for early discussion. However, these work areas can be expanded or reduced as the Council decides. It is also open to the Council to make agreement on common policies. These agreements are made through consensus, although individual members may opt not to participate in implementing any of these.
The current list of work areas and the member responsible are:
Demography was adopted as a work area at the 2006 meeting of the Council. It was proposed by the Scottish Executive, who also took responsibility for it. During the 2007 meeting of the Council the Scottish Government further proposed that energy become a work area of the Council. Past work sector areas included knowledge economy, e-health / telemedicine and tourism.
Name of the Council
Initial suggestions for the council included the names Council of the British Isles[7] or Council of the Isles,[8] and the council has sometimes been known by the latter name. However, owing to sensitivities around the term British Isles, particularly in Ireland, the name British-Irish Council was agreed.
The official name of the Council is represented in minority and lesser-used languages of the council as:
Summits
Date | Host | Host leader(s) | Location held | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | 17 December 1999 | United Kingdom | Tony Blair | London | [1] [16] |
2nd | 30 November 2001 | Ireland | Bertie Ahern | Dublin | [2] [17] |
3rd | 14 June 2002 | Jersey | Pierre Horsfall | Saint Helier | [3] [18] |
4th | 22 November 2002 | Scotland | Jack McConnell | New Lanark | [4] [19] |
5th | 28 November 2003 | Wales | Rhodri Morgan | St Fagans National History Museum, Cardiff | [5] [20] |
6th | 28 November 2004 | Guernsey | Laurie Morgan | Castle Cornet | [6] [21] |
7th | 20 May 2005 | Isle of Man | Donald Gelling | Villa Marina, Douglas | [7] [22] |
8th | 2 June 2006 | United Kingdom | John Prescott | ExCeL Conference Centre, London | [8] [23] |
9th | 16 July 2007 | Northern Ireland | Ian Paisley Martin McGuinness | Parliament Buildings, Belfast | [9] [24] |
10th | 14 February 2008 | Ireland | Bertie Ahern | Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin | [10] [25] |
11th | 26 September 2008 | Scotland | Alex Salmond | Hopetoun House, South Queensferry | [11] [26] |
12th | 20 February 2009 | Wales | Rhodri Morgan | SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff | [12] [27] |
13th | 13 November 2009 | Jersey | Terry Le Sueur | Radisson Hotel, Saint Helier | [13] [28] |
14th | 25 June 2010 | Guernsey | Lyndon Trott | Fermain Valley Hotel, Saint Peter Port | [14] [29] |
15th | 13 December 2010 | Isle of Man | Tony Brown | Sefton Hotel, Douglas | [15] [30] |
16th | 20 June 2011 | United Kingdom | Nick Clegg | Lancaster House, London | [16] [31] |
17th | 13 January 2012 | Ireland | Enda Kenny | Dublin Castle, Dublin | [17] [32] |
18th | 22 June 2012 | Scotland | Alex Salmond | Stirling Castle, Stirling | [18] [33] |
19th | 26 November 2012 | Wales | Carwyn Jones | Cardiff Castle, Cardiff | [19] [34] |
20th | 21 June 2013 | Northern Ireland | Peter Robinson Martin McGuinness | Magee College, Derry~Londonderry | [20] [35] |
21st | 15 November 2013 | Jersey | Ian Gorst | L’Horizon Hotel, Saint Brélade | [21] [36] |
22nd | 13 June 2014 | Guernsey | Jonathan Le Tocq | St. Pierre Park Hotel, Saint Peter Port | [22] [37] |
23rd | 28 November 2014 | Isle of Man | Allan Bell | Villa Marina Complex, Douglas | [23] [38] |
24th | 19 June 2015 | Ireland | Enda Kenny | Dublin Castle, Dublin | [24] [39] |
25th | 27 November 2015 | United Kingdom | Theresa Villiers | Lancaster House, London | [25] [40] |
26th | 17 June 2016 | Scotland | Nicola Sturgeon | Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow | [26] [41] |
27th Extraordinary | 22 July 2016 | Wales | Carwyn Jones | Cathays Park, Cardiff | [27] [42] |
28th | 25 November 2016 | Wales | Carwyn Jones | Cathays Park, Cardiff | [28] [43] |
29th | 10 November 2017 | Jersey | Ian Gorst | L’Horizon Hotel, St. Brelade | [29] [44] |
30th | 22 June 2018 | Guernsey | Gavin St Pier | St Pierre Park Hotel, Saint Peter Port | [30] [45] |
31st | 9 November 2018 | Isle of Man | Howard Quayle | Isle of Man | [31] [46] |
See also
Council of Ireland
North/South Ministerial Council
British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly