Joint Communiqué of the Annual Review of the Ireland Scotland Joint Bilateral Review 2021-25
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
On 9 March 2022, Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence, Simon Coveney and Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, Angus Robertson MSP met in Dublin to review progress in implementation of the Ireland Scotland Joint Bilateral Review 2021-25. This was the first annual review meeting and follows a commitment in the report to an annual ministerial meeting to ensure that its ambitions are realised.
The Joint Bilateral Review was launched in January 2021 and includes 41 recommendations across six thematic areas for which the Scottish Government has devolved responsibility, including Government to Government; Business and Economy; Community and Diaspora; Culture; Research and Academic; and Rural, Coastal and Island Communities, which is also a cross-cutting issue.
Minister Coveney and Cabinet Secretary Robertson reaffirmed their shared ambitions for the Ireland Scotland bilateral relationship, in the context of implementation of the Joint Bilateral Review, and noted the positive progress to date, including good cooperation between respective Health departments on efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. They further highlighted the regular important engagement at political and official level, including through the structures and summits of the British Irish Council.
While Ministers noted strong progress on almost 60% of the report’s recommendations, cooperation in the following areas was highlighted:
Ministers agreed that the report and recommendations of the Review would continue to guide Ireland-Scotland collaboration until 2025, and noted that in 2022 new collaborations are planned across all themes, including a “Literary Cities: Edinburgh” exhibition and season of events at the Museum of Literature Ireland in Dublin, and a joint innovation challenge to be launched by the Scottish Government’s CivTech public sector accelerator programme and the Western Development Commission in Ireland. Ministers looked forward to a further annual review meeting in 2023.
The meeting was also an opportunity for Minister Coveney and Cabinet Secretary Robertson to discuss latest political developments across Ireland and Scotland, and more broadly, including EU-UK developments.