British-Irish Council Meeting in Edinburgh

Brian Cowen (photo right) has held talks with the North's First and Deputy First Ministers in Edinburgh today.
Arriving in the Scottish capital after an overnight flight from New York, where he attended the UN General Assembly yesterday, the Taoiseach said he is confident that scheduled meetings of the Northern Ireland Executive and of the North-South Ministerial Council will go ahead next week as planned.

The meetings had been in doubt due to the ongoing dispute between Sinn Féin and the DUP over the transfer of policing and justice powers from Westminster to Stormont. (see my entry from September 21st) This dispute has seen Sinn Féin ministers refuse to attend meetings of the Northern Executive, which has not met for three months.

Attendance of Peter Robinson (left) and Martin McGuinness (below right) at today's meeting of the British-Irish Council had also been under a cloud of uncertainty for some time.
However, giving a positive signal of common sense, both Northern Irish politicians arrived in the same car for the Edinburgh meeting.

Deputy First Minister McGuinness (Sinn Féin) said his working relationship with Peter Robinson (DUP) remained good.
However, the First Minister said it would be difficult for Sinn Féin to explain why they can sit around the table in Edinburgh, but not in Northern Ireland.
Robinson emphasised that he is "ready to do business" and hopes the Stormont Executive will meet next Thursday.

The British-Irish Council was set up under the Good Friday Agreement to facilitate East-West ministerial links, and today's session was hosted by Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond of the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP).