STORY
The British and Irish governments have reaffirmed their commitment to closer cooperation on legacy issues, political stability and security in Northern Ireland after a meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference at Hillsborough Castle. The talks were led on the UK side by Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn and minister Matthew Patrick, with Ireland represented by foreign affairs minister Helen McEntee and justice minister Jim O’Callaghan.
In a joint communiqué, both governments said they had discussed progress on the Joint Framework on legacy agreed last year and stressed the need to implement its commitments as quickly as possible in order to build public confidence. They also reviewed progress on the Omagh Bombing Inquiry, including new legislation in Ireland intended to support cooperation with the inquiry, and the UK updated Dublin on its recently announced review of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery.