SF welcomes DUP decision to attend British-Irish body

THE Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has insisted that its decision to attend today’s meeting of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body for the first time is not a U-turn on its boycott of the organisation.

However, neither the DUP nor the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) has ever participated in the body’s work before and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has welcomed the move as hugely important.

The body, which draws its members from the Oireachtas and Britain’s parliaments and assemblies, was established in 1990 to foster greater mutual understanding.