Council of Ireland
Provisions for a Council of Ireland existed in the Government of Ireland Act 1920, but these had never been enacted. Unionists resented the idea of any "interference" by the Republic of Ireland in their newly established region. In 1973, after agreement had been reached on the formation of an executive, agreement was sought to re-establish a Council of Ireland to stimulate co-operation with the Republic of Ireland. Talks were held between 6 December and 9 December in the Berkshire town of Sunningdale between the British Prime Minister Edward Heath, the Irish Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave and the three pro-agreement parties.
The talks agreed on a two-part Council of Ireland:
- The Council of Ministers was to be composed of seven members from the power-sharing executive, and seven members from the Irish Government. It was to have "executive and harmonising functions and a consultative role".
- The Consultative Assembly was to be made up of 30 members from Dáil Éireann and 30 members from the Northern Ireland Assembly. It was to have "advisory and review functions" only.
On 9 December, a communiqué announcing the agreement was issued, which later became known as the "Sunningdale Agreement".
Read more about this topic: Sunningdale Agreement
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