| Irish: An Chomhairle Aireachta Thuaidh-Theas Scots: North South Meinisterlie Council | |
 | |
| Abbreviation | NSMC |
|---|---|
| Formation | 13 December 1999 |
| Type | Intergovernmental organisation |
| Legal status | British–Irish Agreement |
| Headquarters | Armagh, Northern Ireland2 |
| Coordinates | 54°21′00″N 6°39′20″W / 54.350036°N 6.655606°W |
Region served | 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)[1] 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 the 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 in Northern Ireland.
The North/South Ministerial Council and the Northern Ireland Assembly are "mutually inter-dependent" institutions: one cannot exist without the other.[2] When the Northern Ireland Assembly is suspended, responsibility for areas of co-operation fall to the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference.
- ^ "North-South Ministerial Council: 2011 Yeirlie Report" (PDF). Armagh: North/South Ministerial Council. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012. Note: The council has used a number of different translations since its inception. It was originally known as Tha Noarth-Sooth Cooncil o Männystèrs.
- ^ Christine Bell (2003), Peace Agreements and Human Rights, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 141,
The agreement makes it clear that the North-South Ministerial Council and the Northern Ireland Assembly are 'mutually inter-dependent, and that one cannot successfully function without the other.' This interdependence is constructed so as to ensure that nationalists and unionists cannot 'cherrypick' the aspects of government which they particularly want to implement. Thus, unionists only get the Assembly and devolved power if they operate the cross-border mechanisms, and for nationalists the situation is reversed.