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North South Unit

North South Ministerial Council
Water Quality
Waste Management
Research into Environmental Protection
Informational Exchange and Environmental Awareness
Other Areas of North South Co-operation
Contact Information

North South Ministerial Council

The North South Ministerial Council (NSMC), which was established under the Good Friday Agreement, comprises Ministers of the Northern Ireland Administration and the Irish Government, working together to take forward co-operation between both parts of the island to mutual benefit. The work of the Council including the joint communiqués can be viewed at www.northsouthministerialcouncil.org/.

At the inaugural plenary meeting of the Council in December 1999 a range of areas for co-operation were agreed including environment and co-operation is ongoing on a range of environmental issues.

Water Quality

A Working Group on Water Quality, set up in 2000, comprising of officials North and South with appropriate technical support, are co-operating on a range of initiatives in relation to Water Quality. A North South Water Framework Directive Co-ordination Group was established to deal in particular with the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). Tasks completed to date include :

  • The delineation of International River Basin Districts (IRBD's) as required under the WFD.  That directive will utilise the river basin as the natural unit for water management.  It is therefore necessary to identify all cross-border river basins and to make recommendations on how they might best be assigned to individual river basin districts to meet the needs of the directive.
  • Funding matters in relation to cross border WFD implementation activities and IRBD management projects.

Waste Management

A number of issues are being pursued under the aegis of the NSMC in the context of expanded co-operation on waste management including:

  • A steering group of officials is working to develop a structured approach to a joint programme for the development of markets for recyclable material.
  • Phase 1 of a feasibility study on an all-island Paper Mill was published in August 2006 and business sector interest in the proposal is currently being assessed.    
  • The review of the National Hazardous Waste Management Plan involves continued liaison with the Environment and Heritage Service in Northern Ireland.

Research into Environmental Protection

The Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) of the Department of the Environment Northern Ireland and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are taking forward an environmental research database development programme aimed at providing wide access to shared information including:

  • A jointly funded interactive website of current environmental research projects. 
    This research website aNSwer (a North South website of environmental research) details information and resources generated by environmental research from organisations in the island of Ireland.  It offers researchers opportunities to publicise and disseminate their work and to develop an increased awareness of similar or related work taking place North and South.
  • A shared database for recording environmental information.
    The first module of an environmental data sources EDS covering information on water is also available via the aNSwer website. Work is underway to include other key areas such as waste, biodiversity, air and climate change.
  • Provision of an up-to-date land cover information on an all-island basis. A pilot cross-border study on land cover has been completed in 2002 and established that there was close comparison between the differing methodologies being used North and South on updating land cover inventories. www.epa.ie
  • In 2001 the EHS and the EPA published a joint report "Environmental Monitoring – New Technologies for Monitoring: Status and Prospects". 
    To see the full report click icon  [ [attachment=]) (Format: Adobe PDF, Size: 1.6MB).    

 

Informational Exchange and Environmental Awareness

Officials of ENFO -The Environmental Information Service, and EHS, are working together to explore and develop opportunities for information exchange and raising environmental awareness in areas of common interest. The work involves a range of co-operative initiatives on shared information resources including the exchange of publications, joint exhibitions, staff exchange, joint conferences and website links.

Other Areas of North South Co-operation


Spatial Strategy

At a British Irish Intergovernmental Conference (BIIGC) held on 27th June 2005 the significant potential for effective co-operation for mutual benefit on strategic issues such as infrastructure and spatial planning was recognised (a copy of Joint Communiqué from this conference can be viewed at http://www.dfa.ie/) 

A North/South framework for spatial planning will be finalised and published by mid 2007. It has been agreed that a joint framework is required to support co-ordinated cross border implementation of spatial policy.  The framework will assist a collaborated approach in taking the two separate strategies (the Regional Development Strategy in the North and the National Spatial Strategy in the South) forward.

Minister Dick Roche launched the report entitled ‘Spatial Strategies on the Island of Ireland: Development of a Framework for Collaborative Action’ on the 9th November 2006.  The report was commissioned by Intertrade Ireland on behalf of this Department and the Department for Regional Development in Belfast and can be viewed at www.iclrd.org/.

Natural Heritage

Co-operation between the National Parks and Wildlife Service in the South and the Environment and Heritage Service in the North has been ongoing.  To date they have published four North-South Species Action Plans. Additional joint plans, including ones for bats and the Red Squirrel, are being progressed.  In addition, a jointly commissioned report on "Invasive Species in Ireland"  has been produced and a contract was awarded in June 2006 to Quercus - a consultancy arm of Queen’s University, Belfast  for the purpose of bringing forward the recommendations in the study.  Contacts at official level North and South continue on a day-to-day basis, involving the exchange of views, expertise and information.

Interreg Programme

Close co-operation also exists in the management of the environmental aspects of the EU co-funded INTERREG IIIA (2000-2006) programme and its successor the EU Programme for Cross Border Territorial Co-operation (2007-2013). Details of both programmes are available at www.seupb.org/.

The British Irish Council

The British-Irish Council (BIC) was established under the Good Friday Agreement to promote positive, practical relationships among its Members.

Work is currently being taken forward on a range of areas of mutual interest including: Impacts of Climate Change and Adaptation; Waste Management; Radioactive Waste from Sellafield; Marine Nature Conservation and Follow up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

Cross-border mobility website

A cross-border mobility website – http://www.crossbordermobility.info/ - was launched by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Dermot Ahern T.D., First Minister Dr. Ian Paisley MP MLA, and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness MP MLA at a meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council in Institutional Format in Dundalk on 30 October 2007.

This website will act as a central information point for people who wish to move across the border in either direction to live, work and study.  The website contains easily accessible information on issues such as taxation, social security, job seeking, health, education, housing, banking and telecommunications. Funding for its development was provided under Measure 5.2 of the EU Peace and Reconciliation Programme.

Contact Information

If you require any further material relating to the above please contact:

North South Unit,
Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government,
Room 2.51,
Custom House,
Dublin 1.

Phone:    01 8882442 or 01 8882445 
E-mail:     northsouthunit@environ.ie

 

 

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