North-South Ministerial Council Meeting

Des Corrigan, SMA, Director Retreat and Conference Centre, Conor Murphy MP, MLA, Noel Dempsey TD, Edwin Poots MLA in Dromantine on the occasion of the North-South Ministerial Council Meeting.

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Dromantine Retreat and Conference Centre hosted a North- South Ministerial Council meeting on 3rd March 2010. It was a transport sector meeting and was attended by Noel Dempsey TD, Minister for Transport from Dublin, Conor Murphy MP MLA, Minister for Regional Development and Edwin Poots MLA, Minister of the Environment from Stormont. They were accompanied by their officials and advisors. Conor Murphy chaired the meeting. These meetings, which are part of the Good Friday Agreement, are usually held twice a year and alternate between venues in the North and South.

 Before the actual meeting, Ministers Noel Dempsey and Conor Murphy launched a new policy on cross-border data sharing arrangements. This will facilitate the exchange of information on vehicles and drivers, particularly relating to driving and parking offences as well as toll charges. The meeting and the launch attracted considerable media presence, including BBC, UTV and RTE. All of these covered the events on their evening news programmes as did many newspapers.

Earlier officials from the North-South Joint Secretariat, which is based in Armagh, came to look at Dromantine and the facilities it could offer. Even though they were particular about what was needed for such a meeting, they were satisfied that Dromantine met these requirements and later confirmed that the meeting would be held in Dromantine.

All were very satisfied with Dromantine as is clear from a letter of thanks I received from the Joint Secretaries. They wrote, “We received positive feedback from Ministers and officials who were impressed with the hospitality, facilities and professionalism of the staff.”