Kitt and Browne Welcome Constructive Implementation Group Meeting: Joint Statement
The British and Irish Governments have today jointly chaired a meeting of the Implementation Group, which is open to the political parties supporting the Agreement.
The discussions today followed on from the productive discussions at the last meeting of the Implementation Group on 20 January, which centred on the implementation of commitments made by the British and Irish Governments under the Agreement in three areas: human rights, equality and the Irish language.
Today's discussions followed up the discussions at that meeting, and centred on two further Agreement issues; victims, and community relations and reconciliation.
The meeting welcomed today's Irish Government announcement of 3 million euro of funding for victims of violence. Part of this funding will go towards the Northern Ireland Memorial Fund established by the British Government in response to the Bloomfield Report.
Ministers Des Browne and Tom Kitt said all the issues discussed today are important to the Agreement. They welcomed the useful and productive exchanges with representatives of the Alliance Party, Women's Coalition, the SDLP and Sinn Féin. They emphasised that these discussions are a valuable aspect of the process of rebuilding the trust and confidence necessary for the restoration of stable and inclusive institutions under the Belfast Agreement.
