Written answers
Tuesday, 11 February 2014
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Official Engagements
Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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130. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide details of all official engagements by him or the Ministers of State in his Department that have taken place in Northern Ireland since he took office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6819/14]
Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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My work and that of Ministers of State and officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade extends across a broad range of relationships in support of the peace process. This is an absolute priority for me, for my Department and for our missions, particularly our Embassies in London and Washington DC, our Consulates in the United States and our work through the European Union. Most particularly it is a focus for the work of our offices in Belfast and Armagh. I am directly and regularly engaged in all of these areas and am kept informed of developments by my officials on a daily basis. I have a broad range of meetings and contacts which take place in Dublin including meetings with leaders of the political leaders in Northern Ireland, with community and sporting organisation and with business leaders. Recently for example I hosted and met with the first Minister and deputy First Minister and with other political leaders at an event in Google to mark the Irish, north and south, who died in the first world war.
I discuss Northern Ireland frequently with international interlocutors, and engage with community and voluntary groups, given their important role in advancing peace and reconciliation on this island. In line with this approach, since assuming office, I have hosted three meetings in Dublin of the Reconciliation Networking Forum, comprising hundreds of representatives of community groups, working on peace and reconciliation projects through Northern Ireland and the southern border counties. I have also met in Dublin in recent months with UUP leader, , with the leader of SDLP, Dr. Alasdair McDonnell MP MLA, and with the leader of the Alliance Party, .
The following table sets out details of my engagements in Northern Ireland since I took office, and reflects meetings and engagements undertaken specifically in Northern Ireland only.
| Engagement | Date, location | Groups / Individuals met, nature of event |
|---|---|---|
| Meeting with Members of NI Executive | - | First Minister Peter Robinson, deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, Justice Minister David Ford |
| Visit to Ashton Centre | - | Community representatives |
| Visit to Greater Whitewell Community Surgery Cross-Interface Project | 3 June 2011, Belfast | Community representatives |
| North South Ministerial Council Institutional Meeting | 3 October 2011, Belfast | First Minister and deputy First Minister |
| North South Ministerial Council Plenary Meeting | 18 November 2011, Armagh | Meeting between members of the Irish Government and members of the Northern Ireland Executive |
| Meeting with Secretary of State | 16 January 2012, Belfast | Secretary of State Owen Paterson |
| Alliance Party Conference | 20 April 2012, Belfast | Tánaiste addressed Party Conference and met with Alliance Leader David Ford and other Party members |
| National Union of Students / Union of Students in Ireland | 24 May 2012, Belfast | Addressed event and met members and guests |
| Meeting with Secretary of State | 17 September 2012, Hillsborough | Secretary of State Villiers |
| North South Ministerial Council Plenary | - | Meeting between members of the Irish Government and Members of the Northern Ireland Executive Bilateral: First Minister deputy First Minister |
| Meeting with NI Justice Minister | 2 November 2012, Armagh | David Ford MLA |
| SDLP Party Conference | 10 November 2012, Armagh | Tánaiste addressed Conference and met with SDLP Leader McDonnell and other Party members |
| - | ||
| Tánaiste laid wreath at Cenotaph in Belfast City Hall and met with other dignitaries | - | Dignitaries and other participants |
| Duncairn gardens interface and Duncairn Community Partnership | - | Community representatives |
| Visit to Cultúrlann McAdam-Ó Fiach | - | Community representatives and Irish language activists |
| Attendance at Reconciliation Fund supported event; All-Island School Choirs Competition, organised by Co-operation Ireland. | - | School Choir competition participants and community and voluntary representatives |
| Meeting with deputy First Minister | 11 November 2012, Belfast | Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness |
| Public Interactive Event with young people marking Fifteenth Anniversary of Good Friday Agreement | Young people and representatives of civil society, including Belfast YMCA, Public Achievement, Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education, and Northern Ireland Children's Enterprise. | |
| Meeting with Secretary of State | - | Secretary of State Villiers |
| Quadrilateral meeting | - | Secretary of State, First Minister and deputy First Minister |
| North South Ministerial Council Institutional | 29 April 2013, Metropolitan Arts Centre, Belfast | First Minister and deputy First Minister |
| - | - | - |
| Meeting with business figures Call to Short Strand centre on St Matthew's Church | - | Business leaders |
| Meeting with PUL community leaders, Skainos Centre | - | Community representatives |
| Meeting with Ardoyne residents at Holy Cross | - | Community representatives |
| Meeting with Carrick Hill residents group | - | Community representatives |
| Meeting on dealing with the past | - | Community representatives Meeting with acknowledged expert |
| Meeting with GAA, St Brigid's GAA Club | 29 August 2013, Belfast | President and CEO of GAA Ulster Council |
| Meeting with SDLP representatives | - | Party representatives |
| Attended reception and gave keynote address to Annual Dinner of the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce | - | Key business and other contacts |
| Visit to PSNI Station Strand Road accompanied by Min David Ford | - | Minister Ford and PSNI officers |
| Visit to Healthy Living Centre, Creggan | - | Community representatives |
| Visit to Apprentice Boys Memorial Hall Museum | - | Apprentice Boys representatives |
| Meeting with Foyle Women's Information Network | - | Included Galliagh Women's Group and Caw/Nelson Drive Women's Group |
| City of Culture Reception in the “Shirt Factory” Exhibition space and viewing of Rita Duffy exhibition | - | Key political, business and community contacts |
| Meeting with deputy First Minister | 18 -19 October 2013, Derry | deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness |
| Sports and Reconciliation Conference, | Members of the Irish Government and Members of the Northern Ireland Executive as well as senior representatives of the Ulster Council of the GAA, the Ulster Branch of the IRFU and the Irish Football Association | |
| North South Ministerial Council Plenary | 8 November 2013, Armagh | Meeting between Members of the Irish Government and Members of the Northern Ireland Executive Bilateral: First Minister deputy First Minister |
| Address to SDLP Conference | - | Party Delegates |
| Shadow Secretary of State for NI | - | Ivan Lewis MP |
| Meetings re the past in Northern Ireland | 9 November 2013, Armagh | Meetings with victims of the Troubles in Northern Ireland |
| Seventy Fifth Anniversary Dinner of the Irish Association | - | Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, other participants |
| Meeting with First Minister | - | First Minister Peter Robinson |
| National Day of Remembrance Ceremony, including laying of wreaths by the Tánaiste | Belfast 9 & 10 November2013 | Other dignitaries participating in the ceremony, other participants |
| Engagement with Political parties re Panel of Parties Talks | 30 & 31 December 2013, Belfast | Secretary of State Villiers Meetings with political parties |
| Engagement with Secretary of State | - | Secretary of State Villiers |
| Visit to Belfast Science Park | 16 January 2014, Belfast and Hillsborough | Meeting with senior Science Park representatives and representatives of companies based there |
Minister of State for Trade and Development
| Address to Assembly All-Party Group on Development (Minister Jan O'Sullivan) | 15 September 2011, Belfast | Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly |
|---|---|---|
| Commemoration Ceremony of the Battle of the Somme (Minister Costello) | 1 July 2013, Belfast | Local dignitaries and participants |
| UN Conference on Trade and Development Workshop (Minister Costello) | 3 July 2013, Belfast | Addressed issue of Port Training |
Minister of State for European Affairs
| Minister Creighton | Belfast 7th June 2012 | Open Conference - European Research and Innovation Funding for SMEs |
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