East–West Council

United KingdomUK Government
Northern Ireland ExecutiveMichael GoveChris Heaton-Harris

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The East–West Council was established in 2024 as part of the Northern Ireland Executive reformation with a purpose to improve links between Northern Ireland and rest of the United Kingdom.^[1]

Purpose

According to the Government of the United Kingdom its missions include:^[2]

• Sharing "best practice" between Great Britain and Northern Ireland on economic inactivity and offering advisory support to implement "major projects"
• Recommending interventions on east–west investment and assessing existing funding and investment strategies
• Improving international investment to Northern Ireland
• Bolstering east-west connectivity

History

The idea of forming an East-West Council was first proposed by Democratic Unionist Party Leader Jeffrey Donaldson in October 2023 as a prerequisite to restoring a power-sharing executive in Northern Ireland. Donaldson hoped that the proposed body would “bring together representatives from across the United Kingdom”, on a “regular basis" to "discuss and collaborate on opportunities for enhanced co-operation”.^[3] Plans for the council were outlined in a command paper published by the UK government in February 2024.^[4] Devolved government was restored in Northern Ireland on 3 February 2024 when a first minister, deputy first minister and executive were nominated by the Northern Ireland Assembly. The East-West Council met for the first time on 26 March 2024 at Dover House in London.^[5]

Membership

The council is made up of representatives from the UK central government, Northern Ireland Executive, business and civil society.^[6] It was chaired by the Minister for Intergovernmental Relations.^[7]

Meetings

Overview of East-West Council meetings

Date	Chair	Statement
26 March 2024	Michael Gove	[1]

References

See also

• British-Irish Council
• British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference
• British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly
• Joint Ministerial Committee (UK)
• Northern Ireland Assembly
• North/South Inter-Parliamentary Association
• North/South Ministerial Council

External links

• Safeguarding the Union command paper