North-South Ministerial Council
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| Abbreviation | NSMC |
|---|---|
| Formation | 13 December 1999 |
| Type | IGO |
| Legal status | British-Irish Agreement |
| Headquarters | Armagh, Northern Ireland2 |
| Coordinates | 54°21′00″N 6°39′20″W / 54.350036°N 6.655606°W |
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Region served
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Ireland |
| Website | www |
| Remarks | 2 This is the location of the standing Joint Secretariat of the North/South Ministerial Council. |
The North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC) (Irish: An Chomhairle Aireachta Thuaidh-Theas, Ulster-Scots: North South Meinisterlie Council) is a body established under the Good Friday Agreement to co-ordinate activity and exercise certain governmental powers across the whole island of Ireland.
The Council takes the form of meetings between ministers from both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and is responsible for twelve policy areas. Six of these areas are the responsibility of corresponding North/South Implementation Bodies. The body is based in the city of Armagh.
The North/South Ministerial Council and the Northern Ireland Assembly are "mutually inter-dependent" institutions: one cannot exist without the other. When the Northern Ireland Assembly is suspended, responsibility for areas of co-operation fall to the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference.
The Ministerial Council consists of representatives of both the Northern Ireland Executive and the Government of Ireland. The Ministerial Council may meet in either a plenary or, more commonly, sectoral format. In a plenary meeting a Northern Ireland delegation is led by the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland while the Republic's delegation is led by the Taoiseach and Tánaiste (prime minister and deputy prime minister).
A meeting in a sectoral format deals only with one particular policy area, and consists of the minister from Dublin with responsibility for the area under discussion, and two ministers from Northern Ireland (usually one unionist and one nationalist), including the minister with the relevant competence. The Council is supported by a standing joint secretariat, consisting of members of the civil services of both Northern Ireland and the Republic.
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