SENIOR politicians from Ireland will be on the Isle of Man tomorrow (Monday) for a two-day meeting of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. It is the first time that the Assembly has staged a meeting on the Island.
It is the 41st plenary of the Assembly with an agenda centred around the Savile Report on Bloody Sunday which was published in June. The venue is the Villa Marina.
Owen Paterson MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, will speak on the Savile Report and the agenda includes a discussion on how investment and support for tourism can contribute to economic recovery.
The Assembly takes place tomorrow (Monday) and Tuesday. The Island’s Chief Minister Tony Brown has also been invited to speak and will address the Assembly on Monday morning.
Membership of the Assembly includes representatives from the UK Parliament, the Houses of the Oireachtas, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Assembly, Tynwald and the States of Guernsey and Jersey.
The Assembly is co-chaired by Lord Cope of Berkeley from the Houses of Parliament, and Niall Blaney TD from the Houses of the Oireachtas.
The provisional agenda is as follows:-
Monday 22nd November - 9.30am - 12.30pm:
•The Saville Report and related matters
•Address by Chief Minister of the Isle of Man, Hon J A Brown
•Address by the President of the Nordic Council, Mr Helgi Hjorvar
Monday 22nd November - 2.30pm - 5.30pm:
•Address by Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP
•A Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland
•The Irish Community in Britain
Tuesday 23rd November - 9am - 12.25pm
•Tourism and Economic Recovery, Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland
•The British-Irish Assembly and the British-Irish Council
•Business reports from Committees - British Isles Economic Space; The Recession and Migrant Workers
