New post for former NI Secretary

Former Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy was today appointed co-chairman of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body.

Mr Murphy will take up his new post with the 68-member body shortly, where he will succeed British Labour MP David Winnick.

The Irish co-chairman, Fianna Fáil TD Pat Carey, welcomed Mr Murphy’s appointment and said he looked forward to working with him.

The British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body was formally established in 1990 as a link between Westminster and Dublin, with 25 British and 25 Irish members drawn from the upper and lower houses of both parliaments.

In recent years the membership of the body has been extended with representatives from the Welsh Assembly, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Isle of Man and Channel Islands.