Posts tagged ‘North/South’
North/South: New Irish President
Thursday, December 22nd, 2011Michael D Higgins has taken over from Mary McAleese as Irish President, while Irish citizens in Northern Ireland will not receive voting rights for the foreseeable future. Meadhbh Monahan reports. Michael Daniel Higgins, the first intellectual and poet to reside at Áras an Uachtaráin, was elected Ireland’s ninth President on 27 October, receiving 701,101 first preference votes, which increased to 1,007,104 with transfers. This equated to a 39.6 per cent share of the total vote, well above Cavan entrepreneur Sean Gallagher’s 28.5 per cent. Gallagher came second with 628,114 first...[full story]
North/South: Environmental co-operation
Monday, October 10th, 2011Ministers from North and South spoke of enhanced co-operation at this year’s Environment Ireland conference. Stephen Dineen summarises the main themes. There was a strong theme of North/South co-operation to Environment Minister Alex Attwood’s address at this year’s Environment Ireland conference. The conference, in its seventh year, saw the environment ministers from the two jurisdictions attend for the first time. One of the themes taken up by the new Environment Minister in his speech was the potential for Northern Ireland to tap into funding for environmental research, and he...[full story]
North/South: Economists in government
Monday, October 10th, 2011Economists are increasingly being called upon to help ministers make policy decisions a senior Northern Ireland civil servant has told a Dublin audience. Meadhbh Monahan reports. Ministers realise that their projects won’t go ahead without approval from the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP) and are therefore turning to economists for economic research, briefings and policy development, rather than just cost-benefit and appraisal analysis. One hundred economists make up the Northern Ireland Government Economic Service. They are employed as DFP civil servants and are seconded...[full story]
North/South: Environmental regulation and trade barriers
Monday, October 10th, 2011A new InterTradeIreland report shows that regulations from EU directives have little impact on companies who trade across the border. InterTradeIreland’s report has found that companies are not impacted significantly by environmental regulations. The report, which examined the impact of regulatory burdens arising from several EU environmental directives, said that only the trans-frontier shipment of waste (TFS) regulations were proving significantly burdensome. It recommends: • reporting requirements arising from environmental regulations should be examined; • electronic and web-based...[full story]
North/South: Irish presidency
Monday, September 5th, 2011As Mary McAleese prepares to leave office, Peter Cheney previews October’s election and its relevance to Northern Ireland. Ireland’s first presidential election in 14 years is essentially a decision on the character and values of the best person to represent the nation, as the post carries minimal political influence. The last presidential election was held in 1997. Mary McAleese was returned unopposed in 2004 and is now nearing the end of her maximum term. Polling day is scheduled for 27 October, alongside two constitutional referenda. The President of Ireland (Uachtarán na hÉireann)...[full story]
North/South: Queen’s visit – making history
Wednesday, June 8th, 2011Meadhbh Monahan reviews the historic state visit to the Republic by Queen Elizabeth II. As Her Majesty the Queen put it, it was “impossible to ignore the weight of history,” during the royal couple’s four- day visit to Ireland. The first British monarch to visit the Republic of Ireland, Queen Elizabeth received her invitation in 1993, but the governments decided she should attend now that the peace process is more stable. Ireland’s largest ever security operation (which included 8,000 gardí, 2,000 Irish soldiers and 120 Metropolitan Police officers) was put in place to ensure...[full story]
North/South: Obama’s visit – an eternal friendship
Wednesday, June 8th, 2011Meadhbh Monahan looked on as President Barack Obama urged Ireland to remain determined because its best days are yet to come. “Is féidir linn – yes we can” was the rallying call of President Barack Obama in his address to the estimated 50,000 who packed into Dublin’s College Green and nearby Dame Street to catch a glimpse of one of Ireland’s most famous newly discovered descendants. A party atmosphere pervaded the crowd who had been whipped up into a frenzy with performances by Jedward, Westlife and other Irish musicians and appearances by actors such as Brendan Gleeson who...[full story]
North/South: The new Irish Government
Monday, April 18th, 2011agendaNi reviews Dublin’s coalition Cabinet. “By the end of our term in Government, Ireland will be recognised as a modern, fair, socially inclusive and equal society supported by a productive and prosperous economy,” the Republic’s new Programme for Government promises. It does pay lip service to Northern Ireland by claiming the new Government will support the full implementation of the Good Friday and St Andrews Agreements, identify new areas for North/South co-operation, create jobs on the island and tackle the dissident threat. Since 9 March, Northern Ireland has entered...[full story]
