Six County MPs to attend Dail Committees

Northern Ireland's 18 MPs are to be allowed to attend committee meetings in the Dublin parliament whenever they want for the first time. One of these is the newly-formed Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. MPs will not be allowed to vote. The privilege is likely to be used by nationalists but ignored by unionists.

SDLP leader Mark Durkan said attending committees was "an additional means of engagement on a north/south basis". He warned it should be no substitute for a north/south parliamentary forum, as envisaged by the Agreement.

Oireachtas committees are cross-party parliamentary bodies made up of Dail and Seanad members. They shadow various departments and deal with a range of investigations to advise the government.

Sinn Fein has made longstanding calls for speaking rights for Westminster MPs in the Dail and Seanad.
This was backed by an Oireachtas committee in 2002, but the process to implement this has stalled.

Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD has welcomed the establishment of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and has noted his party's intention to build on this initial step towards 32 county representation in the Oireachtas. Ó Caoláin said: "The establishment of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement is welcome. That said, the establishment of the Committee represents a step forward. The participation of MPs from the Six Counties will give the Committee an essential All-Ireland character."

However he added, "We have called for representation in the Dáil for citizens in the Six Counties. We maintain this call and we do not see the new Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement as a substitute for Six-County representation in the Dáil."