Meeting for stock-take of Good Friday Agreement

The British and Irish governments were meeting the pro-Agreement parties today for a stock-take of implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

Northern Ireland Secretary Dr John Reid and Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen meet the parties at Hillsborough Castle, Co Down for the first meeting of the Implementation Group.

The Group was set up last year after the Weston Park talks to monitor the Agreement’s progress.

Deputy First Minister Mark Durkan met Dr Reid for talks last night. He said there were a number of topics that needed to be resolved at the meeting.

Mr Durkan, leader of the nationalist SDLP, said; ‘‘There are going to be a number of issues that we have to deal with. Some might be more routine and practical than others, others might be difficult.

‘‘But it is precisely because there are difficult issues that parties are lobbying on individually and are playing all sorts of games of tug-of-war on, that we need an Implementation Group.’’