British-Irish Council - fourth summit meeting
British-Irish Council - fourth summit meetingin New Lanark, Scotland
The Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern, T.D. will attend the fourth Summit of the British-Irish Council which takes place in New Lanark, Scotland today (Friday, 22 November 2002). He will be accompanied by Ms. Mary Coughlan, Minister for Social and Family Affairs and Mr. Tom Parlon, Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works.
Discussions at the Council will focus primarily on social inclusion, identifying areas for co-operation and addressing issues of financial inclusion such as developing financial literacy, ensuring financial services and products are available to all who need them and promoting the uptake of welfare benefits.
Before departing for Scotland, the Taoiseach reiterated the commitment of the Government to helping resolve the current difficulties in the peace process. He said the round table multi-party talks under the joint chairmanship of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, which were held in Belfast yesterday, provided a timely forum for considering proposals for moving the process forward and helping to restore trust and confidence among all participants.
Referring to the British-Irish Council, the Taoiseach said all of the achievements of the Good Friday Agreement must be preserved and progressed. The British-Irish Council is an important part of that Agreement and has made substantial progress on its work in the last two years. Todays meeting underlines the commitment of the two Governments to work the Agreement and to continue with its full implementation.
ENDS
22 November, 2002